One Second Per Second
by Heleentje
Summary: In one universe, Paradox dies in an ill-fated attempt to change his future. But in another, he survives. It only takes one card to change the world. Now, Paradox is alive and no one, least of all Paradox himself, is quite sure what to expect anymore.
1. I - Changing the Game

Here it is, the fic that has been seven years in the making. Many many thanks to all the people who supported me throughout the years. Particular thanks to Ginneke, this fic's other mother; Rhodanum, Higuchimon and Silvormoon, for helping me figure out the plot; and BulletOfEducation, for taking the burden of duels off my hands. This wouldn't have been possible without you guys!

You will notice that this fic frequently ignores the supplementary material the writers of the show have released. I am aware that this information exists, but have chosen to ignore it for various reasons, generally because the information makes little sense in the context of the show. I'm happy to answer any questions on the matter, just send me a message here or on Tumblr, where you can also find me as Heleentje.

This fic will update weekly on Mondays.

* * *

 **I. Changing the Game**

When he'd gone to bed last night, Yusei had planned several things for today: duel, work on his D-Wheel, maybe get milk because Jack had forgotten it and Crow wasn't going to get more. Nothing on that list had involved being stared down by a gigantic three-headed dragon decades in the past. Yet here he was, a very long way from home and without Stardust Dragon, dueling the very madman who'd taken it from him in the first place. Good thing he wasn't alone.

"My turn!" he announced, drawing and immediately playing the card. "With Reincarnation of Hope, I can send two monsters to the grave, and in two turns we'll be able to add one monster from our deck to our hand." It would be Yugi's turn then. Yusei was sure it'd be useful.

"Next, I summon Junk Synchron and use its effect to revive Road Runner. And with Junk Synchron on the field, Bolt Hedgehog revives itself!"

He closed his eyes. What he wouldn't give to have Stardust Dragon now… But this was good enough.

"When the messenger of the winds meets the wishes of steel, the wishes form an impregnable shield. Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Appear, Junk Gardna!"

Yusei relaxed slightly. Junk Gardna would be able to hold out against Sin Cyber End Dragon. He had no idea how to destroy it, but he would rely on Yugi and Judai to come up with a way.

"I play two cards face-down and end my turn," he said. Paradox sneered something that was predictably insulting, but still hurt. And with Sin World's effect—

"I special summon Sin Rainbow Dragon!"

"How dare you use Johan's card!" Judai shouted. Yusei spared him a glance. Whoever Johan was, he had to be the real Rainbow Dragon's owner and, if the latter's livid expression was any indication, a good friend of Judai.

But Rainbow Dragon definitely wasn't on their side now. Junk Gardna's effect stopped its attack, but couldn't stop Sin Cyber End Dragon. Yusei hit the ground hard, and saw their life points go down even while he was still trying to get back up.

"In Sin World, if your life points hit zero, you die," Paradox announced, supremely unconcerned. Yusei struggled back to his feet, trying not to think about the implications too hard. He'd been in life-or-death duels before. He could handle this. Junk Gardna was easily revived by his face-down Afterglow of a Miracle, and now both of Paradox's monsters were in defense mode.

"I'm sorry…" Yusei said. They were in dire need of all their life points and they'd just lost 1400 of them.

"It's fine," Yugi said.

"He has two monsters with 4000 attack points, and you survived both of their attacks," said Judai, giving him a smile. "You did great!"

"If we work together, we'll definitely be able to beat him!"

"Right! My turn," Judai said. He looked back at the two dragons on the field, and once again Yusei could see anger shine through in his eyes. He drew, every movement of his body carefully controlled, and stared at the card for a long time. Yusei shifted uncomfortably. To his right, he saw Yugi try to catch a glimpse of Judai's hand.

"Have you come to terms with your inevitable failure?" Paradox asked, voice quietly mocking. Judai suddenly smiled, his anger dissipating as if it had never been there in the first place. A movement caught Yusei's eye, and he saw Yubel put a hand on Judai's shoulder. They were smiling—no, grinning.

"Sin World will kill whoever loses this duel, right?" Judai asked. Paradox narrowed his eyes.

"Yes."

Judai's smile widened. "That's all I needed to know," he said, and flipped the card he'd drawn moments ago. "I play a field spell: Skyscraper!"

Paradox's furious "What?!" was drowned out by the noise of Sin World shattering all around them. The fuchsia sky became dark, and skyscrapers shot up on the once-spacious square, trapping them between holographic steel and concrete. But Yusei wasn't looking at the buildings, or even Paradox. His attention was on the field, where Sin Cyber End Dragon and Sin Rainbow Dragon shattered much like Sin World had. With a last cry, both dragons disappeared, and for a moment there was silence.

"When Skyscraper is on the field, every Elemental Hero gains 1000 attack points when fighting a monster with more attack points than itself," Judai said, "but that's not the important part."

"Without Sin World, no Sin monsters can stay on the field," Yugi continued. "Amazing, Judai!"

"I don't like watching people die," said Judai, strangely solemn.

"You're a fool!" Paradox told him, but the panic in his eyes was clear. "Do you really think I only have one copy of Sin World in my deck? I activate my face-down card!"

The card that opened was called Sin Tune, and Paradox wasted no time in applying its effect. He drew two cards, but bared his teeth at the sight of them.

"You didn't draw it, did you?" Yusei asked. He shouldn't have bothered; Paradox's expression told him more than enough.

"There will be more turns," Paradox said.

"Perhaps. But in the meantime, it's still Judai-san's turn."

Judai gave him a brief salute and looked up at Paradox. "Fortunately for you, I have no monsters I can summon. Fortunately for me, Yusei left me exactly what I needed."

Yusei nodded once and Judai grinned. "Junk Gardna, direct attack!"

Paradox didn't flinch when his life points went down, only looked at Judai with something akin to hate. Judai didn't seem bothered. He merely placed one card face-down and ended his turn.

"Go on then," Yugi said, smiling faintly, but Paradox didn't draw.

"You really have no idea what it's like to fight to save people, do you?"

"I can't speak for all of us, but I think I have a pretty good idea," said Yugi.

"So do I," Judai added.

"And I," Yusei said. He wouldn't soon forget the Dark Signers, or the Earthbound Gods that had threatened to destroy the world. "You're trying to save people by killing more people. That is never the right way."

Judai had closed his eyes.

"You're naive, Yusei. Do you know what it's like to lose everyone who's dear to you?" Paradox said.

Judai clenched his free hand into a tight fist, and even Yugi tensed up. Yusei thought of Zero Reverse, and of his parents and the thousands of people who'd died in the disaster. He hadn't even known any of them, not really, and yet it still hurt. If he lost Jack or Crow, or Aki or Rua and Ruka or Bruno… It wasn't something he wanted to think about now. He was doing this to save them.

"It's your turn," he said. Yugi and Judai both looked up abruptly, attention back to the duel.

Paradox drew, then took four cards and put them next to the one card he still had left on the field.

"Turn end."

"No Sin World then?" Yugi asked, drawing. "Too bad. My turn!" he glanced at his cards. To Yusei's left, Judai was almost bouncing with excitement, earlier melancholy long gone.

"Yugi-san!" Yusei shouted. "Use Reincarnation of Hope!"

"With pleasure, Yusei." He looked through his deck, chose Black Magician, and held it up for all to see.

"You can't summon it without sacrificing Junk Gardna," Paradox said. "Black Magician doesn't have enough attack points to defeat me, and if I draw Sin World next turn—"

Yugi interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "I don't need to sacrifice anything, because I have something far better. I play Ancient Rules to summon Black Magician. Come forth!"

Judai cheered and even Yusei couldn't suppress his grin at the sight of Yugi's signature monster. Paradox, on the other hand... Yusei'd expected anger, and it was certainly there, but Paradox also looked… sad? No, not sad, resigned.

"I could finish this duel right now, but I don't trust those face-downs," Yugi continued, "so I use Bonds Between Teacher and Student to summon Black Magician's loyal apprentice."

Black Magician Girl appeared in a flurry of sparkles, and both she and Black Magician looked back at Yugi expectantly.

"I'm not done. With Black Twin Burst, I can add Black Magician Girl's attack points to Black Magician's. Now go! Junk Gardna, Black Magician, direct attack!"

Paradox glared at them when the two attacks hit him and erased his life points, but even when his D-Wheel stopped working and plummeted to the ground, glowing a strange light, he didn't move. Yusei winced at the resulting crash and Judai made a pained noise.

"That's got to have hurt."

"Is he dead?" Yusei asked. The smoke from the wreckage obscured his view. Judai looked rather alarmed at the suggestion.

"He shouldn't be. Sin World wasn't around, right?"

As if on cue, the monsters around them disappeared. Yugi, looking smaller now than he had before, gingerly made his way over to the wrecked D-Wheel, and Judai ran after him. Yusei followed. The D-Wheel was a total loss, but the rubble had miraculously missed Paradox. Even though he was unconscious, he looked unharmed. Judai tossed away a piece of bent metal that Yusei was sure had once protected the Momentum engine and crouched down next to Paradox. He lifted his head and checked his breathing with quick, efficient movements that Yusei hadn't expected from someone who hadn't grown up in Satellite.

"You learn a lot when you travel on your own," Judai said when he caught Yusei looking. He turned Paradox on his side and tilted his head back and downwards. "Anyway, he's alive. He'll be out cold for a bit and he'll have a killer headache when he wakes up. He'll probably need help." He pulled a face and looked at both of them. "So now what do we do with him?"

Judging by Yugi's expression, he had exactly as many ideas as Yusei himself had. Which was to say, absolutely none whatsoever.

"We've got ten minutes until Pegasus arrives," Yugi said, glancing at the clock. "We'll need to get him out of here before anyone decides it's safe to come here."

"Wouldn't it be easier to turn him in to the police? He did kill Pegasus and steal all those dragons."

"Speaking of which," Judai grabbed Paradox's deck, miraculously unharmed, and rifled through it, "Yusei, this is yours."

Yusei gratefully accepted Stardust Dragon and tucked it back in his deck holder, safe with the rest of his cards. Judai took out Rainbow Dragon and Cyber End Dragon and rifled through the remaining cards. He frowned and muttered, "Not Fubuki-san's," then, "Yugi-san? Is this Jounouchi-san's Red-Eyes Black Dragon?"

Yugi's eyes widened. "It is," he said. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"And these are Kaiba-san's." Judai took out three copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and gave them to Yugi, together with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon card.

Yugi studied the cards. "How come they didn't tell me? They would've told me if their cards got stolen. Unless… Of course, he hasn't stolen them yet!"

"He stole them after the duel," Yusei said, then grimaced. That wasn't right. "Before the duel for him, but after the duel for us, right?"

"Right, time travel." Judai laughed. "Complicated."

"I'll be keeping those cards until they actually get stolen, I think. The idea of Kaiba-kun with six Blue-Eyes White Dragons is kind of scary."

"Well, I have to return these," Judai said, waving around Rainbow Dragon and Cyber End Dragon. "Johan was beyond himself when he called me, and Shou and Kaiser weren't very happy either."

Yusei cast a quick glance at the clock. Eight minutes.

"We have to get out of here. What do we do with his D-Wheel?" he asked. If he'd had more time, he would've been more than happy to find out how it worked, but unless he managed to persuade the Crimson Dragon to send him back in time just to study a D-Wheel, time was something he didn't have.

"Yubel?" Judai asked, and Yubel appeared next to him, flesh and blood like when they'd chased off the convention-goers.

"Twice in a day." They grinned. "I don't know what issues you think I have, but I don't actually need to blow things up, Judai."

"You enjoy it, don't lie."

"Very true." Yubel made short work of what remained of the D-Wheel. Yusei hoped he'd one day be able to find out how it'd worked.

"Yusei, mind helping me out?" Judai asked. He'd turned Paradox onto his back again and now slowly pushed him up in sitting position, then grabbed his left arm under his shoulders. "You get his feet. Let's get him out of sight, at least."

Together they managed to carry Paradox until they found an alley, hidden from view by a tall office building. Yusei went back to the square quickly and picked up his D-Wheel, along with Judai's bag and Pharaoh. The cat sniffed at Paradox once, huffed, and sat down while they propped Paradox up against the wall. He'd been unconscious for a while now. Concussion? Yusei couldn't bring himself to be overly sympathetic.

"Should we call the police?" he asked. Judai and Yugi exchanged looks.

"I think that might be a problem," Yugi said. He frowned down at the unconscious man. "He technically hasn't done anything wrong."

"He killed Pegasus!"

"Oh, I know. Grandpa died because of him." Yugi's eyes narrowed. "But don't you see? He didn't kill anyone because we prevented it. He hasn't stolen any dragons yet either. If we tell the police and they contact Kaiba-kun, which they undoubtedly will, he'll tell them that his cards are safe and sound."

Judai sat down against the wall, one knee pulled up against his chest. "I can take him to my time. He's definitely stolen there," he said. He hesitated, then shook his head.

"What is it?" Yusei asked. Judai petted Pharaoh absent-mindedly.

"Call me stupid, but I'm kind of curious. He's no duelist. I don't think he even wanted to duel us."

That was something Yusei could agree with. Paradox's deck couldn't even work without other people's monsters.

"So who created that deck? Did his world really get destroyed by Duel Monsters? Why did he go this far?"

Judai's words triggered something in Yusei's mind. "Why didn't he try to kill Pegasus before he'd invented Duel Monsters? Wouldn't that make far more sense?"

Yugi started to reply, but Judai hushed him. "He's waking up. Anyone got anything to keep him under control?"

Yusei spotted a length of rope carelessly thrown away in a corner and rushed to get it. It wasn't very strong, but after that fall Paradox wouldn't have the strength to free himself. He fashioned cuffs out of the rope and tied Paradox's hands together behind his back before he fully regained consciousness.

"You've done this before," Judai observed.

"A few times, yes," Yusei admitted. He'd needed to, back when Team Satisfaction had still existed. Judai and Yubel looked at each other, then back at Yusei, wearing identical grins.

"Really now?"

Yugi coughed, cheeks turning red, and Yusei groaned. "Not like that!"

"Kidding. He's awake!"

Paradox lifted his head slowly, eyes still closed against the light. "Didn't have the guts to kill me?"

"No one's dying today," Yugi said calmly, earlier embarrassment forgotten.

"Then what do you want? Or did you just feel like taking prisoners?" he said, opening his eyes. He closed them again immediately and groaned. "What did you do?"

"You might have a concussion. Keep still, it'll help with the headache," Judai said.

"Why would you care?"

Judai shrugged, even though Paradox couldn't see him. "I'm curious."

"Why did you come here?" Yusei asked.

"So you're deaf now too, Fudou Yusei? To kill Pegasus—"

Yusei cut him off. "Yes, I got that. Why now? Why not kill him when he was a baby? Heck, why not kill his parents? He's already invented Duel Monsters. Killing him now wouldn't have erased the game."

Paradox took a while to reply. "What's to say I didn't just make a mistake?"

"I don't believe that," Yugi said. "You can travel through time, so you're smart enough to know when you should've killed him. … Not that you should've killed anyone, but—" He looked helplessly at Yusei and Judai. "You know what I mean."

Paradox didn't say anything.

"Either you really are that stupid, or you tried and don't want to admit it," Yubel said. Paradox flinched, and she smirked. "So you did try. Failed, didn't you?"

"The creation of Duel Monsters is fixed. If Pegasus dies, someone else takes his place. It always happens in some way," Paradox explained grudgingly.

Yugi toyed with the chain around his neck and tilted his head as if listening to someone. "That makes sense," he said.

"So why did you try now?" Judai asked. "No, wait, I know why. You wanted to discredit the game. Such a high-profile murder would make people reluctant to play Duel Monsters. After a few years, it would simply fade into obscurity. That's why Neos started disappearing. If Duel Monsters wasn't popular, I never would've created the Neospacians."

Yusei put a hand on his deck holder. No Duel Monsters? It was something he could barely imagine. Without Duel Monsters they wouldn't have been able to fight the Dark Signers. Or would the Crimson Dragon have given them a different way? Would the Earthbound Gods have chosen another way to manifest?

"Maybe we should continue this somewhere else," Yugi said, pointing at the sky. Clouds were gathering. It was going to rain. The weather forecast that morning had predicted a sunny day, but of course, that day was a long way in the future. Yusei reached out a hand to Judai and pulled him up.

"Where can we go?"

Yugi checked his watch. "There's no one at my home right now. Grandpa should be at the convention."

Paradox didn't get up, though he finally opened his eyes again. Judai raised an eyebrow at him.

"You coming?"

"Why should I?"

"Because you're tied up, have nowhere to go and probably have a rather severe headache," Judai said, shrugging. "Either you come along, or we make you come along. Your choice."

Paradox looked at Yubel with narrowed eyes. He apparently decided not to risk it, because he struggled upright. As Yubel shed their corporeal form, Yusei quickly rechecked the cuffs. They'd hold.

The trip to Yugi's house wasn't very long, but it took its toll on Paradox. By the time they arrived he was white as a sheet and his pupils had narrowed into tiny pinpricks. Yugi took one look at him and sighed.

"Please go upstairs. I'll be there in a minute."

He really didn't look good, Yusei thought. They wouldn't get any answers out of him like this, and more than that, Yusei just didn't like seeing someone in pain. Even if that someone had just attempted to kill people. He looked at Judai, who was leading the way. The other duelist looked pensive. He kept glancing back at Yubel, who was studying Paradox covertly. Once in a while, they made eye contact with Judai, as if the two were holding a silent conversation. The Crimson Dragon hadn't showed itself since it'd brought them to the past, and Yusei's Birthmark felt completely normal. It had to be around, but it clearly wasn't interested in this discussion. What went on in a dragon's mind?

That wasn't something he had to worry about now. First they needed to find out what went on in Paradox's mind.

Yugi's room was easy to find. Judai sat down on the floor, and Yusei took off Paradox's cuffs and told him to lie down. Not like he'd be able to do much damage to them here, not with Yubel and Judai and him in the room and Yugi downstairs. For a moment Paradox looked like he was going to remain standing, but he must've felt as awful as he looked, because he finally laid down. Pharaoh jumped on the bed and sniffed at his hand.

"Go away, cat. I'm not Antinomy."

Pharaoh looked affronted and settled onto Judai's lap with a plaintive meow. Yusei leaned over and scratched the cat behind his ears. They'd have to wait until Yugi came back and Paradox didn't look like he was going to pass out. Maybe then they could finally get some answers.

 **oOoOo**

Yugi was filling a can of water in the kitchen when the other him made his presence known. He'd been at the back of his mind, of course, but ever since the duel he'd mostly observed, with only the occasional comment when someone said or did something particularly interesting.

"What do you think, partner?" he asked now. Yugi put down the can and busied himself with grabbing a couple of glasses so he could get his thoughts in order.

"Judai-kun and Yusei-kun are very good duelists."

The other him nodded. "They would provide a good challenge. What do you think of Paradox?"

"I don't know what to think of him," Yugi admitted. "He could just be crazy. He killed all those people in cold blood."

"But?"

Yugi dug through the kitchen cabinets until he found the painkillers. "If his world really got destroyed, then I think it's our job to help."

The other him chuckled fondly and followed Yugi as he gathered everything he needed and headed back upstairs. "Of course. Let's find out what his story is, shall we?"

Yugi pushed his bedroom door open with his shoulder, and Yusei immediately got up to take the can from him. They'd made Paradox rest, he noted with satisfaction. The curtains were still open, though, and even though it had started to rain softly, the light was probably still too harsh. He walked to the window and closed the curtains, then filled one glass with water and knelt down next to the bed.

"I got you a painkiller. It'll help."

Paradox looked at him from the corner of his eyes. "Why are you being nice?"

Yugi shrugged, a bit annoyed. "Because I don't like seeing people in pain?" he said. He pressed the painkiller into Paradox's hand and waited until he'd taken it to give him the glass of water. Paradox drank without getting up.

"You said your world got destroyed," Judai said when he'd finished drinking.

"You made it abundantly clear that you didn't care, Judai."

"Oh come on, I never said that! And you didn't exactly give us the best impression, did you? You tried to kill me, actually succeeded in killing a lot of people…" At that, Judai eyes flashed briefly. Yugi didn't blame him for being angry. Just because he wanted to hear Paradox's story didn't mean that he'd forgotten how he'd killed Grandpa.

"You stole Stardust and all those other dragons," Yusei said. "Frankly, I'm not very inclined to hear you out at all. I don't talk to murderers."

Judai twitched, and Yugi noticed. Still, murder was never the right solution. Even if Paradox was telling the truth and he was trying to save his world, there had to be another way, one that didn't involve killing people and destroying the present.

"They're all alive. I didn't kill anyone," said Paradox bitterly.

 _He wishes he succeeded_ , the other him said in his head. Yusei had come to the same conclusion; Yugi saw him glare.

"No, you did kill," Judai said, and there was a certain sadness in his voice. "Even if they all came back to life, the intention was there. You killed them fully intending for them to stay dead, and that's what makes you a murderer, even if your victims are now alive."

Paradox turned his head to stare at him, and something passed between them that Yugi didn't recognize. "I had to," he said finally.

"I know," Judai replied softly.

 _They understand each other_ , the other him provided.

Yugi studied them, nodded briefly and mouthed, "Yeah."

"So what do we do now?"

Yusei sighed. "I don't know what I can do. We need to prepare for the WRGP – World Riding Grand Prix, a dueling tournament," he explained when he saw the confusion on Yugi's face. Paradox froze.

"Right, it hasn't started yet," he whispered. "They're still okay."

Yusei gave him a strange look. "Who's still okay?"

Paradox abruptly changed the subject. "There was a Momentum reactor in Neo Domino City that went out of control."

"Neo Domino City?" asked Yugi at the same time as Judai, who said: "Momentum?" Had Domino really changed that much in the future?

Yusei looked familiar with the terms, and he explained when he saw their surprised looks.

"Neo Domino City is the city I come from, and Momentum is an energy source. Very cost-efficient, with no pollution, and it can be generated as long as the Momentum Engine is running. It's been tested thoroughly to make sure it's safe," he said with a pointed look at Paradox.

"Not thoroughly enough. When the Engine went out of control, duel monsters started to appear. The destruction was…" Paradox swallowed heavily, and Yugi felt a stab of pity. "Very few people survived the initial attacks, and even fewer survived the following years. First it was just Neo Domino, but within a few days they'd spread out all over Japan and then to Korea and Russia. It was only a matter of time before the entire world was overrun.

"We were powerless against it. Everything we had ran on Momentum, and Momentum had gone out of control. I think Tokyo managed to hold out for a day or two, but I was fifteen when it happened, so I don't remember much."

That had to be a lie. Paradox couldn't be a day older than twenty-five.

"So I take it you survived. Then what?" Yubel asked.

"We decided to change the past. Duel Monsters had destroyed our world so we'd destroy Duel Monsters. End of story."

There were so many holes in that story that Yugi wasn't even sure where to begin. He exchanged a look with Judai and Yusei, who were clearly thinking the same. At least this confirmed that Paradox hadn't been working alone. It also confirmed that any normal prison most likely wouldn't be able to hold him; whoever his friends were, they'd have access to time travel and could easily get him out. Yugi sighed. How were they going to solve this?

 _Do you believe him?_ He asked the other him.

 _Do you?_

Yugi leaned back against his desk and poured himself a glass of water. _There's a lot he isn't telling us, but I think that what he_ is _telling us is the truth._

The other him nodded, but didn't immediately offer his view on the subject, so instead Yugi asked out loud: "What do you think?"

"I don't believe him," Yusei said right away. Judai looked surprised. He took Pharaoh off his lap and turned around to face Yusei properly.

"Why not?"

Yusei had his eyes narrowed at Paradox. "I know Momentum," he said. "I've worked with it and I know how it was created and how closely it's being kept under control. There's no way it can just go out of control like that."

"Have you already forgotten Zero Reverse, Yusei?"

"That was intentional sabotage!" Yusei spat. "Momentum is safe."

Paradox smirked. "Of course. It's personal for you, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, putting a placating hand on Yusei's shoulder. No need to let the situation spiral out of control.

"Fudou Yusei's father was one of the scientists who created Momentum."

"If you know that, then you should realize I know a lot about it." Yusei said coldly. "Momentum is safe. I'm sure of it."

"Maybe it wasn't Momentum," Judai said, clearly trying to settle the debate before any of them did something reckless. "You said that the monsters started appearing. Maybe they appeared first and overloaded the Momentum Engine? Yusei says it can only be intentionally sabotaged, so maybe that's exactly what happened."

Paradox relented. "It's possible," he said grudgingly. "There were no records left of what happened."

"See? There you go!" Judai smiled widely. Yusei was staring at the ceiling.

"So all of you think he's telling the truth."

"I don't think he'd go to all this trouble if he wasn't," Yugi said simply.

"Call it a hunch, but I'm fairly sure he isn't lying. There are… forces in this universe that would find great pleasure in destroying the world, and they'd love to use Duel Monsters for that," Judai said, then smiled again, solemn attitude disappearing in the blink of an eye. "Besides, he's been feeling fine for a while now and hasn't tried to get away yet. He's suddenly decided to tell us his story, which can only mean that he thinks we could help and that making us believe him is in his best interests."

Paradox didn't seem willing to confirm whether Judai was right. "Where's my deck?" he asked.

"Oh, here." Judai held out the deck. Paradox snatched it from him and rifled through it. Yugi briefly spotted a magic card with a strange archway on it, but a second later Paradox had already tucked it away.

"You're just giving it back to him?" Yusei asked. Judai shrugged.

"Why not? It's not like he can do anything with it right now. We checked, remember?"

"After all this, you just trust him to—" Yusei made a frustrated noise and got up. "I'm sorry, Judai-san, Yugi-san. I'm going to step outside for a second."

He took great care not to slam the door. Judai looked down.

"I'll go check on him," said Yugi. "Judai-kun, can you handle things here?"

Judai nodded and Yubel smirked. "He'd be a fool to try anything."

"Don't trust him because you feel sorry for him," Yugi said softly as he left the room. Judai flinched, and Yubel put a hand on his shoulder, eyes focused on Paradox. Paradox, for his part, was either ignoring Yubel or, more likely, just couldn't see the monster in this form.

He found Yusei in the hallway, head pressed against the window. Yugi stood next to him, and for a minute they both just watch the rain fall. Yusei closed his eyes after a while, giving Yugi the chance to study him. He looked conflicted and angry, but most of all alone. Yugi was home, and Judai still had Yubel and Pharaoh with him, but Yusei was entirely on his own. Hard to believe Yusei was actually the oldest of them. He certainly didn't look like it now.

Yugi waited patiently until Yusei felt like talking, and he wasn't disappointed. After another few seconds Yusei raised his head and opened his eyes.

"Why does Judai-san trust him?"

"I don't know," Yugi said. "He probably has his reasons."

"Then why do you?"

"I don't trust him," Yugi corrected gently, and Yusei relaxed just the tiniest bit. "How could I? He killed Grandpa and he wouldn't hesitate to do it again if he thought it would help him. I don't think he'd hesitate to kill any of us, and I'm very sure Judai-kun knows that too. But I do believe him."

"Why?" Yusei finally looked at him.

Yugi hesitated, trying to find the right words. Finally he settled for another question. "If he isn't trying to save his world, what do you think he is trying to do?"

Yusei looked taken aback. "How could I know what drives a murderer? Maybe he just likes killing."

"Would he really go to the trouble of inventing time travel for that?"

"Who says he invented it? Maybe it already existed in his future," Yusei countered. Yugi inclined his head. That was a possibility he hadn't considered yet, but Yusei was right.

"Still, it's an awful lot of trouble, don't you think? Go to the past, steal people's monsters, all just to kill one man?"

Yusei sighed. "Okay, so assuming he's telling the truth, why is he killing people? That's never the right way."

 _Despair_ , the other him said.

"Despair," repeated Yugi. "It can make people do terrible things."

"He's really so desperate that he would resort to murder?"

"I wouldn't rule it out."

Yusei looked unconvinced. They lapsed into silence for a minute, and Yugi could hear Judai and Paradox talking in his room. Yusei had heard them too, He cocked his head slightly, trying to hear what they were saying, but their voices were too soft to make out.

"What should we do next? Judai-san is going to want to help him." Yusei said. Yugi nodded. More than likely.

"I'm not opposed to it myself. Not for his sake," he said quickly, "but for the people in his world. They do deserve to live as well."

"We'll need to know all the details. I want to know how that Momentum reactor went out of control. I don't think Momentum can be overloaded, but if it were reversed…" Yusei's explanation suddenly became so technical that Yugi's mind boggled. He asked the other him for backup, but only received confusion in return.

"… So if the gears destroyed one another, that would blow up the system, but there should be failsafes for that. They'd be stupid to—"

"Yusei-kun, that went right over my head," Yugi said, and Yusei fell into an embarrassed silence. "Talk about it with Paradox. He should be able to tell you more."

Yusei nodded and moved away from the window, and Yugi took that as their cue to go back. Judai and Paradox had fallen silent. When Yugi and Yusei entered the room, both of them looked up. Paradox had gotten up and was now sitting instead of lying down, while Judai was looking out of the window. He turned around when they came in and gave Yusei an anxious smile.

"I'm sorry, Yusei."

Yusei waved his apology away and leaned back against the door. He looked at Paradox.

"Tell me what happened. I need the details."

"Have you decided to believe me after all?"

"All the details," Yusei repeated. "If your story holds up, I'll consider it."

What followed was another technical discussion so complicated that it left Yugi and Judai staring at each other in confusion. Both Yusei and Paradox were well-versed in the subject; after a few minutes they were bouncing theories off each other like they'd done so all their lives.

Yugi stepped out when Grandpa came home to tell him he had friends over and to dissuade him from coming upstairs. When he came back, Judai had taken out his laptop – even newer than the models Yugi had seen at Kaiba Corporation, but apparently not sophisticated enough for either Yusei or Paradox's liking – and Yusei was typing away at high speed, making calculations with the data Paradox provided.

"Okay," he said after half an hour. Yugi looked up from the duel he'd started with Judai. "I'll buy that the reactor went out of control, but that's only enough to damage Neo Domino. It would only be on the scale of Zero Reverse," he made a face, "which is bad enough, obviously, but you said the entire world got ruined."

"The Machine Emperors," Paradox said. He wanted to continue, but Yusei held up a hand.

"Machine Emperors?"

"Yes," said Paradox cautiously.

"Machine Emperor Wisel?"

"One of them, yes," Paradox was staring at Yusei. "How do you— Oh! Of course, yes. Aporia."

"You know Yliaster," Yusei said, voice suddenly ice. "I should've known."

Yugi looked at Judai, who shrugged. The conversation had taken a very different turn, one he couldn't follow.

"I know them, but I'm not working with them. Our plans are very different."

"Could've fooled me," Yusei muttered. "How many of you are there anyway?"

"A lot of us died," Paradox said, and Yugi decided he was awful at evading questions. This changed things. They'd known Paradox hadn't been working alone, but now they knew his friends were apparently dangerous in their own right. It made the situation a lot more volatile, and Yugi was instantly on his guard, duel with Judai forgotten.

"What's Yliaster?" Judai asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, but they've been attacking people," Yusei gritted out. "If he's working with them—"

"I already told you, I'm not working with them."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Look, the data checks out, doesn't it?" Paradox said exasperatedly. "I haven't been lying."

"You could've just as easily made it up. All we have is your word."

"I made all this up just so I'd have a cover story on the off-chance that all of us managed to survive a duel with Sin World in play? I have better things to do with my time. Why would I have lied about the Machine Emperors if I knew you knew Yliaster?"

"Easy. You made a mistake."

"I am not lying! How hard is it for you to understand that?" Paradox spat.

"He really isn't," Judai said, staring at Paradox intently, and for a second Yugi saw his eyes glow. "I can tell. He's telling the truth about the Machine Emperors."

The mark on Yusei's arm flared red, and his attention was diverted. He went through a whole range of facial expressions before finally settling on resigned. "If you say so," he murmured, then, "Okay, fine, you're not lying. What do you plan on doing now?"

"Save my future," Paradox said. 'Idiot' went unsaid, but it was plain for all to hear.

"How?"

"Somehow."

As far as plans went, Yugi had heard better ones.

"I have a friend who might be able to help," said Judai. "His brothers own a corporation… Well, I'm not exactly sure what they do, but I'm sure they can help fund research or something. Maybe Industrial Illusions too."

"After he killed Pegasus?" Yusei asked dubiously. Judai shrugged.

"They don't need to know that, right?"

"Then what do we do with him?" Yusei pointed a thumb at Paradox. "He can't stay here and we can't let him run around causing more havoc."

"I can—" Judai said, but Paradox interrupted him, pointing back at Yusei.

"I'll go with him."

"What?" Yusei said. "This isn't something you get to decide!"

Paradox sat up straighter, eyes alert and fixed solely on Yusei. "I go with you, and I swear I won't try anything. I won't try to attack you, I won't try to harm you or whoever you care about, I won't steal anything." He glanced at Judai. "Anyone else, and I won't make such guarantees."

Judai raised his eyebrows. He didn't look overly concerned.

"No more time travel," Yusei said.

"It's not like I have a way of traveling, now that you've so thoroughly destroyed my D-Wheel."

Yusei snorted. "We've already established that you weren't working alone, so whoever you're working with can travel through time as well. No time travel and no contact with Yliaster."

"No time travel," Paradox reluctantly agreed. He was twitching, left hand moving as if he was writing something down. Yusei groaned, clearly wondering what he was getting himself into, and Yugi could sympathize. Paradox was not trustworthy. What if he attacked Yusei's friends? Really, there was no doubt that he was planning something. Yusei's time seemed important to him, but Yugi couldn't fathom why.

Yusei sighed and looked at Yugi and Judai.

"Your call," Yugi said softly. "We'll still be able to help you. We can send you information."

He wondered what it would take for Kaiba to investigate something he barely knew anything about. Maybe he should wait until his Blue-Eyes White Dragons got stolen. It would lend some credibility to the story, though Kaiba would be furious.

 _There's something new_ , the other him said, and Yugi suppressed a grin.

Yusei was staring out of the window again, face pained. He put one hand on his deck holder, running his thumb over the cards. Yugi wondered if he was even aware that he was doing it.

"You have our help," he said again.

"If I do this, I'm not doing it for your sake," Yusei told Paradox. Paradox nodded.

"Fair enough. Neither am I."

"I will try to save your world, but you'll give me all the information I need. If I find out you were holding anything back—"

"Alright," Paradox agreed again.

"You're not contacting anyone unless I know and trust them."

"Fine by me," Paradox too readily agreed. Yugi frowned. Surely Yusei wouldn't trust anyone who would help Paradox. Yusei's conditions were foolproof. Unfortunately, they had no way to make sure that Paradox would actually follow them. He grimaced, and one look at Yusei's face told him he'd come to the same conclusion.

Paradox had too. He snorted. "Why don't you put a criminal marker on me if you're so worried?"

"No!" Yusei all but shouted. He took a deep breath and touched the mark on his face that Yugi had assumed was a tattoo. "No," he said, calmer now. "No markers. I'm not putting anyone through that."

The birthmark on his arm flared red again, and if anything, Yusei looked relieved. "But if you do break your promise, I believe the Crimson Dragon would like a word," he said.

Paradox made a disgusted sound. "Of course the dragon would help you. Whatever. It's fine."

Far too easy. Yugi glanced at Judai, who shook his head, his eyes glowing again. Apparently Paradox still wasn't lying, so whatever he was planning to do, Yusei's conditions were no obstacle. And while Yugi could easily believe that Paradox did want to save his world, he couldn't believe that he wanted to do so on their terms.

"You agree to all that?" Yusei asked, eyes narrowed at Paradox. Paradox gave him an exasperated look.

"I already told you that I did, didn't I?"

"Okay, then we have a deal," Yusei said after a moment of deliberation, and Paradox looked almost relieved. Yusei picked up Judai's laptop again and started pouring over data, asking for clarification once in a while. Yugi suspected he was just doing it to put his mind at ease.

At eight, Yusei took Judai's laptop and mumbled something about transferring information to his board computer, and Yugi left the room with him to order pizza and give Grandpa an edited version of the story. It took Yusei until after dinner to wrap up his work, and for lack of a printer compatible with Judai's laptop, Yugi eventually resorted to just copying everything Yusei had typed up by hand. It made little sense to him, but someone out there ought to know what it all meant, and they'd be able to help them.

A little past ten, Judai yawned widely and started a conversation with the Rainbow Dragon card Paradox had stolen.

"He wants to go back to Johan," he announced. "He thinks it's been far too long."

"We should go back home," Yusei said, nodding but looking at Paradox from the corner of his eyes. Still not looking forward to it, apparently. Yugi didn't really blame him, but surely the Crimson Dragon would be enough to keep him in check.

"You can spend the night here, if you want," he suggested. "I'm sure Grandpa won't mind and it doesn't really matter when you leave here, right? Only when you arrive."

Judai looked tempted, but he shook his head. "Nah, we should go back."

It made Yugi strangely sad. For all he knew, this would be the last time he saw either Judai or Yusei, and he wished he could spend more time getting to know them. As if reading his mind, Judai grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down a phone number.

"In about a decade, that'll be my number, so call me if you want," he told Yugi. Yugi accepted the piece of paper and carefully put it in his desk drawer. Judai put his laptop away again, then picked up Pharaoh, who'd fallen asleep on Yugi's desk chair and didn't take kindly to being woken up.

"Yugi-san, it was an honor meeting you," Yusei said. Yugi smiled.

"Likewise, Yusei-kun. I hope we'll get to meet again!"

"And duel!" Judai added. He bent closer to Yusei as they left the room. "Are you sure the Crimson Dragon can handle three of us?"

"I don't see why not," Yusei said. They left the house in silence, but as Yusei started his D-Wheel and Paradox walked forward, followed by Judai, Judai turned around again.

"You'll see me again, Yugi-san!"

"I'll look forward to it, Judai-kun!"

Judai grinned and he and Yusei waved, just as Yusei's birthmark glowed again and the Crimson Dragon appeared, enveloping the three of them. A second later they were gone.

"Good luck, Yusei-kun," Yugi whispered, just as Grandpa came outside.

"Did Yusei-kun have a dragon with his motorbike?" he asked.

Yugi nodded. "They were from the future, Grandpa."

"They have motorbikes with dragons in the future?" Grandpa marveled. "My, they've certainly come a long way, haven't they?"

* * *

 **First Aid with Heleentje** : Do Not Try This At Home, Kids. I have taken some creative liberties here, but what the main trio did — carrying Paradox away from the scene of the incident while he was unconscious — is Absolutely Not Recommended unless his safety was acutely endangered (say, if he was in the middle of a busy road or in a burning building). A fall from that height is enough to reasonably suspect spinal damage, in which case a victim should not be moved at all, if that's possible. Call emergency services and wait for specialized help, while maintaining free airways if you can.

On that note, if a person is unconscious for more than one or two minutes, that is a Very Bad Thing and you should call emergency services. Paradox gets away with it for reasons you can probably guess. Anyone else, not so much.

 **Next chapter:** Paradox meets up with old friends and utterly fails at making new ones.


	2. II - Future Past

_This chapter picks up between episodes 93 and 94 of 5D's, for those of you who like to keep track of such things._

* * *

 **II. Future Past**

Neo Domino City was much like the last time Paradox had been there, but still he couldn't resist the opportunity to look around and admire the view. As always, his admiration was accompanied by a stab of anger; these people didn't appreciate what they had. No one ever appreciated it until it was too late. He had been no better at the time.

He shook his head quickly and squashed the feeling just in time to face Yusei.

"If you hurt any of my friends, I swear you'll wish you died in that duel."

Paradox resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Did Yusei actually expect him to do something as detrimental to his plans as that? For now, he and his friends were necessary. Making an enemy out of them would just be stupid.

"You already said that, and I already told you my answer."

"Right." Yusei said. He looked very tired, and Paradox couldn't even blame him. Even though it was barely two in Neo Domino, both of them had been up for a very long time. "Follow me."

Yusei parked his D-Wheel and locked it carefully. Unnecessary. Paradox intended to keep every promise he'd made.

"Yusei!" came a happy shout, and a young woman with dark red hair ran towards them, followed by five — no, four — people. When they saw Paradox, they all stopped so quickly that they almost collided with each other. Paradox suppressed a grin. People were so easy to scare.

"Yusei, is that—" the tall man asked. Jack Atlas, Paradox remembered. Another Signer. In fact, they were all here, including the kid who hadn't become one yet.

"Yeah, that's Paradox," Yusei said, and added, "We won, it's fine," when he saw the panic on his friends' faces. "He'll just be staying here for a while."

"How long is a while?" Jack asked. Yusei slumped.

"I have no idea. His future got destroyed and Yugi-san, Judai-san and I decided to help him."

"By bringing him here?" Jack didn't look convinced. None of them did.

"The Crimson Dragon says it's okay," Yusei said. "Everyone, Paradox. Paradox, this is Jack, Crow, Aki, Rua, Ruka — Guys, where's Bruno?"

"He's asleep. Said he wasn't feeling well," Crow replied, and Paradox frowned along with Yusei. He quickly schooled his expression before anyone noticed. "He started getting headaches when everything fell apart." Crow glared at Paradox, who gave him an impassive look in return, more concerned with Antinomy than whatever these people thought of him. Of course Antinomy would suffer from seeing a city crumble. Frankly, Paradox was surprised it hadn't triggered any memories.

If he were very honest, he was disappointed as well.

But Z-one had told him about Antinomy's task. He had to stay here, and for now he had to forget everything. He'd never be able to get close to Yusei if his loyalties were divided. Until Paradox got the chance to talk to Z-one, Antinomy would have to remain without his memories. It was a small sacrifice to make.

"The Crimson Dragon really said it was okay?" the small girl – Ruka – asked. Yusei nodded and she frowned, deep in thought. "If it really said so, then I think it's fine," she said eventually.

"We'll talk about it inside," Yusei said, suppressing a yawn. They all trudged inside, Paradox flanked by Crow and Jack, who were both eyeing him suspiciously. It was getting old. He really wasn't going to attack them the moment they had their backs turned.

What passed for a kitchen was actually too small to seat seven people, but somehow they managed. By unspoken agreement, Aki and Crow had moved in front of the two children in a protective gesture. Maybe it would've been easier if he'd gone with Judai. At least Judai had been easy enough to manipulate. Whatever it had been that made him feel sorry for Paradox, it would've been really useful now. But it wasn't what he needed. If he was going to accomplish anything at all, he had to be in this time period. He also needed to contact Z-one, but it didn't look like they were going to let him out of sight anytime soon.

"Yusei, what exactly happened?" Aki asked.

"Did you really meet Mutou Yugi?" Rua asked, earlier suspicion forgotten in favor of enthusiasm. Yusei smiled.

"Yes, I did. I also met Yuki Judai. Paradox had been stealing monsters all over time to kill Pegasus."

"You dueled him?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, we won."

"Obviously," Paradox interrupted. "Do you really think either of us would've been here if you hadn't?"

It got him five glares and a sigh from Yusei. "Yes, I know that. Would you rather tell the story?"

"And get them to listen? No, I'll pass. Once was enough."

Yusei sighed again and continued his story, giving a shorter version of everything that had happened after the duel. At the end of it, reactions were divided. Jack and Rua were still eyeing him with distrust, but Crow and Aki looked uncertain. Ruka even looked almost concerned.

"How can Momentum go out of control like that?" Crow asked. "There's a failsafe for that, isn't there?"

"There is," Paradox and Yusei said at the same time.

"It didn't work," Paradox added when all eyes turned to him. "It should've shut down, but it didn't. I don't know the exact details myself. Everything I learned about it, I learned afterwards."

"How?" Jack asked sharply.

"Other people told me. Did you really think I was the only survivor?"

Yusei was looking more tired every second. "Can we just leave the arguing for tomorrow?" he interrupted. "I'd really love to get some sleep now."

Paradox would too, but he wasn't going to get it yet.

"Yusei?" another, all too familiar voice said. Paradox almost smiled when Antinomy tried to enter the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and looking a little worse for wear. "You're back? Great! I—" He paused when he noticed Paradox. "Oh, hi."

"Hello," said Paradox.

"Feeling better?" Crow asked. Antinomy nodded.

"A bit. So everything's okay now?" he asked, looking at Yusei. "What's going on?"

Yusei sighed, obviously not relishing in having to tell the entire tale again. "After Stardust got stolen, the Crimson Dragon took me into the past and I met—"

"They beat me, then decided to help me out, and I came here," Paradox cut him off.

"Um, yeah, more or less." Yusei eyed him suspiciously. "That's how it went, yeah."

Antinomy was looking at him, eyebrows furrowed lightly, his face going through a whole range of emotions – anger, confusion, recognition maybe? Paradox knew he shouldn't be hoping for it. Too early.

A phone rang, and Antinomy blinked and looked away quickly. Paradox relaxed as Aki fumbled with her phone. By the time she managed to get it out of her pocket, the call had already gone to voicemail, and she listened to the message with an air of resignation.

"I have to go," she said when the message ended. "My parents just called."

"Do they remember what happened?" Yusei asked.

Aki shot Paradox a dirty look. "No, I don't think so, but I want to make sure they're okay. I'll come back tonight."

"We'll see you then," Yusei said, getting up as Aki left the room, the twin children trailing after her. "Guys, sorry, I need to sleep. I don't even know how long I've been up anymore."

"What about him?" Jack pointed at Paradox. Yusei hesitated in the doorway.

"We can't leave him in the garage, not with our D-Wheels there," Crow said. Too bad, Paradox thought. He had no intention of stealing anything, but some access to technology would be useful.

"He can have the sofa. I don't mind," Antinomy said, but his suggestion was immediately shot down.

"Out of the question," Yusei said. "You're not feeling well. You need a place to sleep and we're not giving it to _him_."

Surprising how much venom Fudou Yusei could inject in one word. Still, Paradox agreed. Antinomy didn't look well and he needed to rest. He'd have to be careful with triggers, because Antinomy was very close to remembering him, and that was one thing Paradox didn't have a plan for yet.

"I've slept everywhere," he said, cutting the discussion short. "I can easily sleep on the floor."

"It'll have to do. We'll find a spare futon or something," Crow said, ushering Yusei towards the stairs, then pushing Antinomy out of the kitchen. "You two will sleep." He glanced back at Paradox. "And you too, I suppose."

"Don't think we're leaving you in here alone," Jack warned. Paradox shrugged. Even if he did leave the house, where was he supposed to go? Aporia? He wouldn't be of any use right now. No, first sleep, then talk to Z-one as soon as he could. He just needed them to leave him alone for five minutes.

When Paradox came into the living room, Antinomy was sitting on the sofa he apparently slept on. Better than they were used to. Paradox found a spot on the floor behind the sofa and laid down onto his back, arms folded behind his head. He'd have to find a more comfortable position soon if he didn't want to end up with sore arms when he woke up, but he'd had far worse.

"Do you want my blanket?" Antinomy asked.

"Keep it."

Antinomy shrugged and disappeared from view. Crow came back only seconds later and tossed Paradox a blanket, then sat down abruptly in a nearby chair.

"We'll find you a futon tomorrow," he said. "I'm staying here, so don't try anything."

Paradox closed his eyes and pretended not to hear him. Seriously, was that all they could think about? He felt insulted. Did they really think he was stupid enough to attack them?

He rolled over so his back was turned towards Crow and pulled the blanket over him. It only took him a few minutes to fall asleep. Years of sleeping whenever he got the chance had taught him that.

When he woke up, it had already long gone dark, and Crow had been replaced by Jack, who leveled him with a glare but didn't say anything. Antinomy was still asleep, so Paradox spent several minutes staring at the ceiling and contemplating what to do next. Contacting Z-one was still the most important thing. In the meantime, he supposed he could try to find out more about these people. Maybe win their trust, however hard that would be.

He hadn't expected to be able to sleep more, and he was right. Somewhere around midnight he was still staring at the ceiling. Jack had fallen asleep and Antinomy had woken up. He hadn't gotten up yet, but he clearly wasn't asleep, not with the way he wasn't moving at all. Antinomy moved in his sleep, always had. Paradox had been woken by him moving around more times than he cared to remember.

Eventually Antinomy gave up on sleeping and leaned over the back of the sofa to look down at Paradox. He seemed a little taken aback when he saw that Paradox was awake, but didn't move away.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked with a furtive glance at Jack. Their guard was still fast asleep.

"Sure," Paradox said.

Antinomy brushed a stray lock of hair out of his face. "This is going to sound really stupid, but have we met before?"

Paradox swallowed. "No," he said.

"Oh." Antinomy visibly deflated. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's just that I feel like I should know you and… Never mind."

"You lost your memory," Paradox said. No need to make it a question when he knew more than Antinomy himself.

"Yeah… Security can't find anything and I can't remember a single thing about my past. Sometimes it's like I just came out of nowhere."

Paradox hid a wince. Not true, but close enough. "You don't remember anything at all?"

"My name and duel mechanics. Sometimes I have nightmares but—" He laughed sadly. "Sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with this."

"I don't mind."

"I should be angry with you, you know. Yusei is my best friend and you tried to kill him."

Paradox found a spot on the wall that looked remarkably interesting. "Your best friend?"

"I know I'm not his best friend. He has Jack and Crow and everyone else." Antinomy sounded wistful and Paradox wanted to curse Fudou Yusei's name. "Still, he's my best friend even if I'm not his."

"I'm sure you have good friends who miss you."

Antinomy let himself fall back down onto the sofa. "That's nice of you, but you don't need to comfort me."

Jack stirred, and they both fell silent until it was clear that he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Only then did Antinomy speak again.

"I shouldn't be telling you this," he said, so quietly that it was clear the reproach in his voice was meant for himself, not Paradox.

Paradox said nothing.

"At first I thought I felt sorry for you, but I don't."

"Then what?" Paradox asked carefully.

Antinomy hesitated, tried to start a sentence, but didn't find the right words. "It's like… Sympathy," he said after several aborted attempts, "but not just because your world sounds awful. I feel like I know what it's like. Really know."

Too close, far too close. Paradox scrambled for a way to change the topic before Antinomy actually managed to recall all the memories Z-one had buried.

"But I can't have. Don't pay attention to me. It's not important." Antinomy said with a self-effacing laugh. Paradox was too busy feeling relieved to even think about correcting him.

"Do you still have a headache?" he asked. It seemed like a safe enough topic.

"Yeah, it's just not going away. In fact—" Antinomy stopped talking abruptly. "No, nothing."

"In fact what?"

"It's nothing, don't bother."

"It got worse when I got here," Paradox deduced with a resigned sigh. He'd expected little else.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing personal, I just don't—" Antinomy was rambling. Paradox cut him off.

"A— Bruno, it's fine. You can't help it." He looked at the back of the sofa. "Just go to sleep. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning."

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Paradox." Paradox didn't need to see his face to know he was smiling. "Sleep tight."

"Feel better," Paradox said, and then, far too quiet for anyone to hear, "Goodnight, Antinomy."

 **oOoOo**

It took them until the following afternoon to discuss their next move. Aki had come by, but the twins hadn't, and Crow was secretly glad for it. He knew they should be kept in the loop, but he wanted to have a proper plan first. With Bruno on guard duty, it was just the four of them sitting around the kitchen table.

"We shouldn't let anyone in the house as long as he's here," Crow said. He glanced at Jack. "Definitely not Carly, you know what she's like."

"I know." Jack's smile was fond. "I'm not getting her involved in this. I'll go over to hers."

"Not Mikage or Ushio either. Bruno can go to Security for his check-ups, shouldn't be too much of a problem."

They all glanced at the living room, where Bruno and Paradox appeared to be deep in conversation. Yusei frowned. Crow didn't much like it either.

"You said he wasn't lying, right?" Jack asked.

Yusei nodded, tearing his eyes away from the living room. "The Crimson Dragon and Judai-san both said so."

"He could still be deceiving us," Aki said. They all nodded. There was an art to deceiving people without lying, and every Satellite kid had mastered it before they turned eight. Yusei had recounted Paradox's promise to them, and none of them had been able to spot any obvious half-truths, but they had to be there. It was only a matter of spotting them as fast as possible. Preferably before Paradox started using whatever loopholes he'd created.

"So we don't trust him, but that's a given," Crow said. "How do we keep him under control? Will the Crimson Dragon's power be enough?"

The Crimson Dragon seemed amused by that. Crow ignored it. However rare it was for the dragon to give its input on anything, right now it wasn't particularly helpful.

"We never leave him alone and we never let him anywhere near anything important," Yusei decided. "I think that's the best we can do. He gave his word."

"Then we just trust him to keep it?" Jack asked, eyes narrowed. Crow disliked the idea as much as he did, but like Yusei had said, they didn't really have any other options.

"Maybe we could get Security," Aki suggested. "I know it's not done anymore these days, but if he had a criminal marker—"

"No," said Yusei.

"Out of the question," Jack said.

"Not a chance in hell," Crow said. He told himself he shouldn't blame her. She didn't know what it'd been like.

Aki crossed her arms. "It's the most convenient way."

"I said no!" Yusei told her with unusual vehemence. She flinched and Yusei gentled his tone. "Look, you didn't grow up in Satellite. You don't know what it's like."

"You don't need to belittle me. It's not because I'm younger than you that I don't know what it's like to have an awful life!"

She was just lashing out now. Crow put a hand on her arm. She pulled it back.

"This isn't the life you had, Aki. Look," he glanced at Jack and Yusei, "can we talk for a second?"

Aki was glaring at the three of them, but when Crow got up, she followed. He waited for her to enter the hallway and closed the door behind them.

"Yusei and me are never going to get rid of these," he said without preamble. Aki studied the marks on his face carefully. He let her.

"I don't mind," she said. "You don't look like you without them."

Oh, how had she managed to grow up this naive? Crow laughed bitterly. "I know you don't mind. Everyone else does."

"The City was reunited with—"

Crow waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, all good and well. Do you know why I always ask Jack or Bruno to buy groceries? I don't do that because I enjoy watching Jack spend money on stuff we can't afford."

Aki didn't reply.

"The last time I went grocery shopping, the store owner called Security. I was lucky that it was Ushio who came, and he wasn't happy with the store, but still. That's what it's like for us. We have a criminal marker, so we're never going to be trusted. It's not as bad for Yusei, because he won the Fortune Cup. Me, I'm a nobody with several markers. Do you see now?"

Aki had her arms crossed in front of her stomach. "That's not right."

"Of course it's not." Crow shrugged. "What do you want to do about it? People don't change their way of thinking just because we ask nicely. I was lucky to get a job at all."

"There's got to be a way to change it," Aki said, some of her stubbornness shining through. Crow almost smiled. She was still an idealist at heart.

"We try. The WRGP is a chance to redeem ourselves. Show the world that Satelliters aren't criminals." He took a deep breath, thought of all the kids he'd seen marked. Would they ever be able to have a normal life? "That's why we won't mark Paradox. Maybe he deserves it, but I don't know that and frankly I don't care. Criminal markers can ruin your life forever, and I don't wish that on anyone. There are kids out there right now who will never have a proper education, never find a proper job, just because they got caught once while stealing to stay alive."

Aki seemed to shrink. "I see," she whispered.

"Yeah." Crow leaned back against the wall, eyes closed. "Does that answer your questions?"

"I— yes." She hesitated for several seconds. "Crow, can I ask you something personal?"

"Depends. What's the question?"

"When did you— How did you get your markers?"

For a second, Crow seriously contemplated not replying at all. But they'd been honest with each other so far, and she was a good friend. It was only fair that she got to know.

"The first one was this one." He touched the M-shaped marker on his forehead. "I was ten— Oh, don't look so shocked. That was old for a gang kid like me. Most of us had been marked by the time we were seven."

That didn't exactly remove the shocked look from Aki's face.

"Anyway, I'd been trying to break into a Security building. I'd done it a hundred times before, and I just got careless." Crow shrugged. He'd been so furious with himself at the time, but it had taught him a valuable lesson: even the stupidest people will update their alarm system when the old one gets bypassed one too many times.

"I got caught a few times after that, but I guess they thought one marker was enough at the time. When I was in Team Satisfaction, Security usually let us be. We were doing part of their job for them, so they just let us do whatever we wanted. It was only after…" He swallowed. Oh Kiryu. "It was after, when I had my kids to take care of. It can't have been long before Yusei left Satellite. We were running out of food, so I was planning to break into one of the storage buildings and get food for my kids. Maybe for Martha too, if I could manage. Obviously they'd tightened security but I'd learned my lesson. It should've been easy."

Crow paused. Easy, yes. He knew how Security thought and knew the best ways to get around them. But him knowing hadn't been enough.

"Taiga followed me. He thought that we'd be better off with two – more hands to carry whatever we could find." He was speaking in short bursts now, trying to tell the story without reliving the entire memory. "He'd seen me do it with other people and thought he could do the same. It was the first time he ever came along and— Of all the times he could've picked!"

Crow clenched his fists as all the frustration from that day returned in one massive wave. He took a deep breath and unclenched them again slowly. It was over. Done.

Aki took a hesitant step towards him. "Crow, what happened?"

"Security found him before I did. When I noticed they were chasing him, I had to interfere. Couldn't let them take him, especially since he was still so young. So I knocked out a few people and we hid in a building nearby."

Hiding, trying to distract Security, Taiga paralyzed with fear, babbling apologies until Crow told him to shut up, he was making too much noise, he was going to give them away. More apologies, interrupted by flashlights illuminating the street. Telling Taiga to stay where he was and not come out no matter what.

"I gave myself up. Convinced them that I'd been the person they'd been chasing all along."

"Did that work?"

"Not really. They knew there was someone else with me, but they were too happy to have caught me. I was kind of infamous, y'know." He tried to grin. It didn't work.

"They marked you."

"I was in a lot of trouble. The guys I'd knocked out… Well, apparently I'd knocked them out harder than I'd planned because I injured a couple of them. They don't like it when you do that." Understatement. It had earned him both of his other markers, just because they liked watching him suffer. "Thieves usually get out after two weeks or so, but that time I stayed locked up until after the Fortune Cup."

Aki had paled.

"You okay?"

"I should be the one asking that," she said. "Was Taiga…"

"He got out fine." Crow smiled. "He took the rest of the kids to Martha and they made it through without me. He's actually really clever."

"I didn't know."

She wasn't talking about Taiga. "You couldn't have," said Crow.

"So that's why Yusei was so vehement about it."

"Yusei managed to keep away from Security for a long time, but he still grew up with us. He saw it all happen. Same for Jack. Really, you won't find a Satelliter anywhere who's in favor of criminal markers." Crow took a deep breath. "That's why we don't want to give Paradox a marker. The Crimson Dragon can keep him in line, so we'll just have to trust it and make sure we never leave Paradox alone."

"All right," Aki said. She glanced back at the door that separated them from the living room and lowered her voice. "What do you think of him?"

"Paradox? Even if what he did was the only way for him to achieve his goals, I can't agree with it. And I don't believe for a second that he isn't planning something now. He has something in mind and it involves us, because if it didn't, he wouldn't agree to stay here. But I think that makes us safe."

"He needs us."

"Exactly. For now we're useful, so he won't try to hurt us."

Aki smiled wryly. "We just need to know when we stop being useful."

Her words gave Crow pause. No, surely that wouldn't work. But maybe it was worth a try.

"What if we get him to trust us? Trust one of us, at least," he said. Aki didn't look convinced.

"What do you mean? Get him to reveal his secrets?"

Crow hadn't really thought about that. "Something like that. But if he trusts us, we'll get a lot more done, and we won't have to worry about becoming a liability to him. Frankly I don't want to spend the rest of my life sleeping with one eye open."

"So we need someone he'll trust…" Aki mused. They looked at each other.

"Bruno," they said at the same time. It had only been a day, but it was remarkable how polite Paradox was when Bruno was around. No one else got that treatment, and Crow had no idea what made Bruno so different. Still, they could most definitely use it to their advantage.

"I'll talk to him," he said. The least they could do was have a few aces up their sleeves. They were supposed to be in charge, yet he still felt like Paradox had all the power, and he didn't like it one bit.

Aki checked the time. "It's getting late, but… Thanks for telling me."

"No problem." Crow grinned at her. "We're friends, right? Why shouldn't I tell you?"

Was it his imagination, or did Aki look a little taken aback? Had she really expected him not to trust her?

"Thanks," she said again.

"We'll figure this out," he told her. "We've beaten underworld abominations. We're not gonna be stopped by some guy just because he can travel through time."

Aki laughed, and Crow smiled back. She really should laugh more, he decided. She had a very pretty laugh.

 **oOoOo**

Contacting Z-one proved to be far harder than he'd expected, and after a week, Paradox was getting frustrated. His captors hadn't left him alone for a minute, no matter how docile he pretended to be. Perhaps he should be happy that the people in this time appeared to possess at least a modicum of intelligence, but he really wished his plans weren't the victim of it. Whatever help Yugi and Judai had promised, it wasn't coming through, and everyone seemed far too busy with the WRGP to pay much attention to what Paradox knew was coming. He needed to talk to Z-one, and fast.

He had to wait several more days until he got his chance, when a wild goose chase involving Crow's D-Wheel and some people from his past left Paradox alone with Antinomy. Antinomy was still complaining about headaches, and that particular day had him feeling almost as bad as the day Paradox had arrived. He'd made a half-hearted effort at trying to figure out what was wrong with Crow's D-Wheel, but when the group had left he'd begged off on coming along, insisted that he could keep an eye on Paradox, then taken a painkiller and sat down on the sofa. He hadn't moved since. Paradox knew he was awake, but also knew that he really shouldn't be.

"You should sleep," he told Antinomy, leaning over the back of the sofa. Antinomy shook his head, eyes closed.

"Can't. Gotta watch you, make sure you don't kill me in my sleep or something."

Paradox snorted, and even Antinomy cracked a smile.

"I could be holding a knife right now for all you know."

Antinomy didn't open his eyes. "Yeah, you could be."

"Clearly you're terrified."

"Absolutely."

Paradox smiled, but quickly sobered again. "You really should sleep, though. How bad is it?" he asked.

"It'll pass. The painkillers will start working soon enough," Antinomy said. For a moment neither of them said anything. It would take a long while for everyone else to get back, and Paradox doubted Antinomy would stay awake that long. He just needed convincing.

"I promise I won't murder you in your sleep, how's that?"

"I can't let you go outside either."

"You're not in any condition to keep me from leaving," Paradox pointed out. Antinomy considered that and grudgingly nodded.

"The Crimson Dragon will stop you anyway," he reasoned. Paradox bit the inside of his cheek. The one flaw in his plan. He technically wasn't planning on breaking any of the promises he'd made, but the dragon probably wouldn't see it that way. Still, Antinomy was convincing himself to sleep. That was good.

"Exactly. Nothing to be afraid of."

"Yusei won't be happy if I fall asleep," Antinomy said, and Paradox rolled his eyes in disgust. Screw Yusei.

"If you're not awake before they get back, I'll wake you up."

"I— Alright." Antinomy admitted defeat a little too easily. Paradox wondered if he could get him to take another painkiller. His motives might not be entirely altruistic, but he still didn't want to see any of his friends in pain, especially when he could do something about it for once.

He watched as Antinomy stretched out on the sofa, never even opening his eyes in the process, and waited until his breathing had evened out, then waited another fifteen minutes just to be sure. Only then, when he was absolutely convinced that Antinomy was asleep, did he leave the room and make his way over to one of the computers found everywhere around the house. They were password-protected, of course, and breaking into something secured by both Fudou Yusei and Antinomy would require a lot of time he didn't have. Fortunately for him, he didn't need to. He shuffled through his deck until he found the card he needed, slipped it into a card reader he found lying around, and waited the few seconds it took for him to get access to Z-one's realm.

He didn't spot Z-one right away, which was more disconcerting than he wanted to admit. On the other hand, the Crimson Dragon had made no attempt to stop him. Weird, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Paradox. What brings you here?" Z-one appeared in front of him. Paradox let out a relieved sigh.

"Did you see what happened?"

"No." Z-one sounded rather unsettled by that. "I thought you were working at Domino University in 2009."

The him who was this Z-one's relative contemporary had been. Paradox told him so.

"So then you're from the future. My future."

Paradox took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"And since you are here and not with my future self—"

"You died," Paradox blurted out. "You and Antinomy and Aporia all died." And then, because he might as well get it all out, "The Ark will fail. We need to change our plans."

"Our deaths are a minor sacrifice," Z-one said in clipped tones. "Don't tell me you're backing out."

"It's only a minor sacrifice if we actually manage to save our world. We didn't."

He couldn't see Z-one's face, but he was sure he was frowning. "Did the Ark Cradle fall?"

"No."

Z-one fell silent for a long time, long enough for Paradox to start getting nervous. Time didn't quite pass in the same way here as it did in the world he'd just left behind, but he still needed to be careful. If Antinomy woke up, or worse, if everyone else came back, he'd be in a lot of trouble.

"Why are you here?" Z-one asked at long last. Paradox bristled.

"I was supposed to be back-up, wasn't I? This is me being back-up."

"So the Circuit was completed, but the Ark Cradle did not fall. Why is that?"

"I don't know what happened inside, only that when the Ark disappeared, none of you were alive." That was almost a year ago for Paradox himself, even though it hadn't happened yet for any of the people here. Too much had happened since then, and so far, nothing had worked out. They needed a change of plans, and convincing Z-one of that was his main priority.

So he talked. He told Z-one about the Fortune project, about his own attempts to influence it and lead the scientists working on it onto the right track. It had failed quite spectacularly, leaving him with little other choice than go straight to the root of the problem: Duel Monsters. Yet the game was a constant, and no amount of effort on his part managed to destroy it. All of it had led to him being here, right now, trying to prevent a repeat.

"This is… Intriguing information," Z-one said at long last. "It is unfortunate that you do not know more."

Paradox swallowed his instinctive response to that. "What should we do?"

"For now, you better stay where you are. We'll continue with our plans."

This time Paradox didn't hold back. "Are you kidding me? It didn't work the first time. What makes you think it's gonna work now?"

"The Ark Cradle didn't fall. This time we will make sure it does."

Paradox didn't even want to begin to count how many things could go wrong with that. It was far too close to the original plan to work. His arrival hadn't truly changed anything yet, which meant that whatever had happened in the Ark would surely repeat itself. The Ark plan itself wasn't a bad one, but he needed something that would drastically change the status-quo. Despite their promises, Yusei and his group would never trust him enough to cooperate with him, but there had to be a way to turn things in their favor—

"What about Antinomy?"

"He will stay where he is as well. Don't worry," Z-one said gently. "His memories won't be triggered just by you being around. It'll take more than that."

Paradox kept his face carefully neutral.

"Stay back for now. You're still our back-up. I will inform Aporia of your presence, but it's probably best if you don't contact him."

At least that was one thing they could agree on. Talking to Aporia certainly wouldn't help him gain anyone's trust. As for the rest of Z-one's plans though, Paradox had absolutely no intention of going along with them.

"You seriously think this is the best way. Just let everything play out like it did before."

"We have prepared for this for a long time. With your knowledge, our plan won't fail again," Z-one said dismissively. Was he really sending him away already? Wasn't his word worth anything at all?

"I will keep you updated in case anything changes. For now, try not to get involved."

"Alright." Paradox gritted out. He saw no use in prolonging the conversation if Z-one wasn't going to listen anyway. "I'll see you around."

He left in another flash of light that left him momentarily blinded. He blinked furiously to clear his vision. The house was still quiet. Good. He took back the card and shut down the computer, making sure that he left no traces of his presence, and went back to where Antinomy was still asleep. Not much time had passed since he'd left, so he still had a lot of time to kill before anyone came back. That was good. He desperately needed time to think.

Sticking to the status quo had never been Paradox's strongest point. The Ark Cradle was still their best shot, but it couldn't happen like it had last time. Something had to change. Something that would completely shake up everything and force everyone to revise their plans.

He looked down at the sleeping Antinomy. Sometimes the most obvious method really was the best one.

* * *

 _Next chapter: Bruno does some soul-searching_


	3. III - Trust

You'll start seeing small deviations from the supplementary material the writers provided in this chapter; these deviations will become far more obvious and prominent in future chapters. As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!.

* * *

 **III. Trust**

It's going to be one of those days, Bruno thought as he stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his temples. He considered looking for painkillers, but quickly decided against it. The initial attack had faded into something bearable, but he still felt the lingering ache, right above his eyes, and no painkillers had solved the problem. It wasn't bad, more a nuisance than an actual problem, but it was enough to make him irritable.

"It's just tension," he mumbled. It didn't warrant a doctor's visit. Really, with all the trouble they'd been through he was surprised he was the only one feeling bad. He could still see the city fall apart — no, not fall apart, stop existing. Right there and then, Neo Domino had never existed at all, and time had just been slow to catch up.

And then there was Paradox. Despite the sheer impossibility of it, Bruno still couldn't shake the feeling that they'd met somewhere before. He shouldn't be talking to him. He should shun him like everyone else did, but talking to Paradox was easy, familiar. Much like Yusei, though neither would appreciate the comparison. Bruno grinned. Better not tell them that.

He'd just poured himself a glass of milk when Crow entered the kitchen. When he spotted Bruno, he squared his shoulders. What was that about?

"Good morning," Bruno said.

"Morning. How're you feeling?"

"Better." It wasn't a lie. Compared to the day when Crow'd gained Black Feather Dragon, this was nothing.

"Good. I actually wanted to talk to you," Crow said. He hesitated briefly. "It's about Paradox."

Bruno braced himself. Yep, this was going to be the lecture about how he shouldn't trust Paradox.

"Look, I know I shouldn't talk to him so much, but—"

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you could talk to him more."

Wait, what? Bruno blinked. "Talk to him more?"

Crow hoisted himself up onto the kitchen counter and glanced around to check if no one was listening. "Yeah. You guys get along, right?"

"I guess so."

"I'll be honest with you. We need him to trust us. Maybe even like us, but I'm not putting any money on that."

"You think he has some kind of plan and we'll get caught in the crossfire?" Bruno thought it over. It was fairly likely, but still, just deceiving Paradox like that? It didn't sit well with him.

"I like having a plan for when that happens."

Bruno frowned. "I'm… not sure if that'll work."

"You think he won't trust us?"

"I think it won't change his plans even if he does."

"How do you figure?"

Bruno paused. Yeah, how exactly had he come to that conclusion? "I just think he's not going to let personal attachments get in the way of saving our world. It would be bad to be stopped by a thing like that. He'd never get far."

"Maybe." Crow hummed thoughtfully. "I'd still like to try it, though. If you feel up for it."

Not really. "I guess."

"Alright, thanks." Crow patted him on the back and jumped off the counter. He opened the fridge and took stock of its contents with a frown.

"Are we out of milk again?"

"On the counter." Bruno pointed. Crow picked up the bottle and put it back in the fridge.

"Want me to go shopping?" Bruno asked. Not today, but maybe tomorrow. The fridge was running empty and there was only so much ramen one could eat. He wanted to get some eggs at the very least.

Crow nodded. "I'll make a list. I could've sworn Yusei brought milk with him last time."

"That was last week."

"Right." Crow chewed on his bottom lip.

"Is there a problem?"

A sigh. "With Paradox here, I'm not sure our budget's large enough. We can't exactly let him starve but he's also not bringing in any money."

Bruno sucked in a breath though clenched teeth. Yeah, how did you solve an issue like that? Paradox was a non-entity, officially non-existent. They'd made very sure to keep his presence under wraps, so while Bruno got supported by Security and could help Yusei with the odd jobs he got, Paradox wasn't earning any money. He'd borrowed some of Bruno's clothes – the only size that more or less fit him, since Jack outright refused to give up any of his stuff – and he wasn't a particularly big eater, but Bruno could still see how his presence would be taxing on their budget.

"He could help out Yusei and me. We could get more work done and people wouldn't need to know."

"You'd think he'd do that?"

Bruno wanted to say yes, but he suddenly wasn't sure. Yusei and Paradox didn't get along particularly well. If he were to help out, Bruno'd have to play peacekeeper between the two of them. His headache was already increasing again just from the very idea.

"I'll ask him," he said instead. Who knew, maybe it'd all work itself out.

 **oOoOo**

Paradox was facing a dilemma.

That was nothing new. His name practically begged for it. Kill to save? Save to kill? So many choices and every single one could change the timeline for the better, but also for the worse. Fortunately, his current dilemma wasn't so life-alteringly important. Unfortunately, it was far more personal than the usual life-or-death fare.

The arrival of the team's material for the WRGP and the subsequent impromptu party had given Paradox some unexpected time alone, so he was using it to think without being interrupted. Making Antinomy regain his memories was proving to be a harder task than he'd anticipated. Not that he'd expected it to be easy; Z-one wouldn't have let just anything trigger Antinomy's memories. Still, he'd expected that his presence, combined with subtle and not-so-subtle reminders of their shared past, would have at least had some effect. But everything he tried, from mentioning the Machine Emperors and name-dropping Aporia and Z-one to 'accidentally' calling him Antinomy, had been unsuccessful.

And that was where his dilemma was coming in. Antinomy was happy, far happier than he'd been before. Could he take that away? On the other hand, their personal happiness was of no consequence, and Antinomy knew that very well. It was the only way to force Z-one to review his plans. He knew that at least there, Antinomy would agree.

So he'd go through with it. He just needed to find something that would be a strong enough trigger. He wondered if he could convince Aporia to orchestrate a Machine Emperor attack? Ah, but no, that would be breaking his promises. Better not risk it, unless he wanted them to hand him over to Security. Not that he'd have a hard time breaking out, but it would be a big setback.

"There's something I keep wondering about."

Paradox started. When had Yusei entered the room? He really needed to start paying more attention. Such lapses in concentration weren't something he could afford.

"What?"

"You say you were fifteen when your world got destroyed."

Paradox nodded. What was his point?

"And now you're, what, twenty-something?"

Oh, so that was his point. "Twenty-two," Paradox said.

"All those things you talked about, the entire human race dying, that can't just have happened in seven years."

"It didn't," said Paradox, and then, because he didn't feel like wasting much time on trivial details, "The original me died of old age. I'm a copy with all his memories."

"Copy?" Yusei exclaimed, too loud. Jack, probably drawn by the noise, stuck his head around the doorframe, and Yusei waved him over. "What do you mean, copy?"

"Exactly what I said. I'm a copy of the original Paradox, with all his memories and skills. Essentially, I am him."

"You're not real?" Jack asked incredulously. Paradox gave him a condescending look.

"Of course I'm real. Do I look not real to you?"

"So you're not the Paradox who saw everything happen, but a different person," Yusei concluded. Paradox bristled. How dare he?

"Let me make this very clear, Yusei. I am not a different person. I'm Paradox and I have been Paradox for the last—" he tried to count but lost track, "—several decades."

"If your body's different—"

"Just different casing. It changes nothing."

Yusei looked like he was going to protest, but Jack stopped him. Paradox was secretly grateful. Who was Fudou Yusei to tell him who he was or wasn't? What right did he have to claim that his experiences were somehow less real, less valid, just because his body wasn't the original anymore?

"Okay, fine, you're you and always have been," Jack said, cutting off any arguments from Yusei. "Why didn't you tell us that before?"

"You didn't ask."

Yusei slammed a hand onto the table. "That's not how this works, Paradox. We promised to help you only if you told us everything we needed to know. Are you really going to claim this isn't something we need to know?"

Paradox shrugged. "It doesn't change anything. My world was still destroyed, and I'll still try to change it, with or without your help."

"You won't do anything on your own."

Too late. "Your friends aren't exactly coming through, are they? Do you really think I'm going to sit here idly and wait until you deign yourself good enough to do something?"

"How dare you—"

"Guys, enough." Antinomy's voice cut through the tense atmosphere. "This isn't solving anything."

Yusei took a deep breath and visibly tried to relax. Paradox followed his example.

"We shouldn't be arguing today," Antinomy said. "Come on, everyone's still in the other room."

Only now did Paradox notice the new jacket he was wearing. The legendary Team 5D's. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about Antinomy being a member of it. The Team 5D's he'd seen on TV and in magazines had only had six members. He shrugged. Changes in the timeline had stopped surprising him a long time ago.

"We're talking about this later," Yusei said.

"I'll keep my promises as long as you keep yours," Paradox said, turning away again. Whatever Yusei wanted to say was interrupted when Ruka came in, talking excitedly about something Paradox really couldn't care less about. Looked like the party was moving to this room. So far for some peace and quiet. And really, watching Antinomy join the rest of the team wasn't solving his dilemma. His friend had changed allegiances without even realizing it. It was more than a little bit frustrating, and at times Paradox just wanted to shout at him. But Antinomy wasn't to blame. Maybe once they'd stopped partying they would try to take this seriously. After all, clearly no one in the past had done anything. If they had, their info should have already reached them.

 **oOoOo**

 **14 April 2008**

Early morning Venice really was very pretty. Judai hadn't exactly gotten the chance to appreciate it the last time he was here, but now he could wander around and pretend to be a tourist. He'd gotten very good at pretending to be a tourist.

"So what do you think?" he asked. A passer-by gave him a strange look.

"I think you're doing that just to mess with people," Yubel replied. Judai shrugged. Sure, they could communicate perfectly well with telepathy, but where was the fun in that?

"Time's back to normal, I believe."

"And Andersen can stop his hysterics."

Judai frowned. "Don't be mean. Rainbow Dragon is part of Johan's family. It's like... It's like if Paradox had taken you."

He shuddered at the thought, as did Yubel.

"That couldn't have happened, right? We're fused together."

"I don't know," Judai said, feeling more than a little nauseous. Darkness had managed, however briefly, and that had been awful enough. He shook his head. "Let's just not talk about it anymore, okay? I don't want to think about it."

Yubel's agreement was fervent and immediate.

Judai fished a bottle of water out of his backpack, ignoring Pharaoh's indignant hiss, and drank deeply. It did little to get rid of the nausea, but at least it served as a distraction. What would Paradox be up to anyway? Judai hoped Yusei wouldn't have too much trouble with him. He was still trying to think of the best way to contact Yusei. He had no time travel at his disposal, so pretty much the only way would be to put all information in a safe somewhere and hope it stayed there until Yusei was old enough to find it. Of course, that required him to have information first.

First Venice. Unfortunately, while defeating Paradox had stopped the collapse of the timeline, it hadn't actually restored the damage to the city. The San Marco square had been closed off for tourists, but Judai easily slipped in. In broad daylight, the damage didn't look quite as bad as Judai remembered, but clearly the police and press didn't share his opinion. Part of the square had been torn up, and rather a lot of the surrounding buildings seemed to have burnt out. He just hoped no one had been inside at the time. He wished he'd paid more attention, but running for his life didn't exactly improve his attention to detail.

He blended into the shadow of one of the buildings to watch the proceedings. Pictures were being taken and police were running themselves ragged. A few officers passed right by where he was standing, but Judai wasn't worried. No one would find him in the dark unless he wanted them to.

His phone rang, and Judai fished it out, grinning at a confused officer who'd heard the sound but couldn't find the source. Unknown number. That was strange. Only a few people had his number and all of them would show up on caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Judai-kun. It's been a while."

Judai smiled widely. "Yugi-san! How are you? Wait, when was the last time you saw me? Was that when I graduated? It's all pretty confusing now and—"

"Whoa, slow down! I believe I got the time right?"

"You did, yeah." Judai looked around. Not much he could do here right now. "Yugi-san, I'm going to call you back in a minute. I'm not in Japan right now so your phone bill is going to be colossal if we keep talking."

"A minute?" Judai heard Yugi say right before he hung up. He pocketed his phone, stepped deeper into the shadows, and concentrated. There were certain advantages to possessing the powers of darkness. One of those was instantaneous teleportation as long as he could find a shadow nearby. When he reappeared, he was standing in Domino's city park. Good to be home. He really should come here more often.

No one paid him any heed when he emerged from the shadows. School had just let out and teenagers were everywhere, so what was one more? It suited Judai just fine. He redialed and waited for Yugi to pick up.

"Judai-kun?"

"I'm in Japan now. This should be better."

"How did you— No, wait." Yugi chuckled. "Clearly I'm not as up-to-date as I assumed. I take it the Crimson Dragon got you back to your time in one piece?"

"We got back yesterday," Judai confirmed.

"That's a relief. I've been wondering for the last decade."

The slow path. He hoped Yusei had made it back alright, but much like Yugi, he'd have to wait several years to find out. Yusei hadn't even been born yet. Maybe he should send him a birth present in a few years.

Judai grinned at the thought. "Did you notice anything weird in the last decade?"

"There seems to have been a cult a few years ago, and then an entire school disappeared, and there was the bit where everyone on the planet vanish—"

"Okay, I get it!" Judai interrupted, and Yugi laughed. "Paradox weird, I meant."

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Yugi fell silent, and for a moment Judai wondered if he'd lost the connection. "It might be better if we discuss this in person. I've talked about this situation with Kaiba-kun, but he's not very happy with you right now. Something about you blowing up one of his main buildings last year?"

"It was an accident!" Judai protested, wondering how the Kaiba Corporation had even found out he'd been involved. Shouldn't all cameras have been destroyed in the explosion?

Yugi laughed again. "I know. Regardless, he wasn't happy."

Judai winced. He hoped that wouldn't end in a lawsuit, both for himself and Saiou. It had all been Darkness' fault anyway.

"Duel Academia managed to convince him that you weren't to blame. He's planning to restore the building now, and between you and me, I think he's got plans to revamp the entire city."

Huh. It'd be interesting to see where that went. "Have you found out anything, Yugi-san?"

"A few things. Do you have time to meet up?"

Judai checked the time in an unnecessary gesture. He had no set schedule, no real obligations except the obligation to help out wherever he could. "Yeah. Where are you?"

"At home. I'm sure you can still find that." Yugi's grin was audible.

"I think I'll manage," Judai said drily. "Give me five minutes."

"Five? What happened to one?"

"I do like walking sometimes." Besides, as Yubel helpfully reminded him, he wasn't very good at close-range teleportation. Appearing in the middle of a stranger's house wasn't his idea of fun.

Yugi laughed. "I'll see you soon, Judai-kun."

"Right!" Judai ended the call and started moving towards the exit of the park. Things were starting to get interesting. Time to see what exactly they could find out.

 **oOoOo**

Somewhere down the line, Paradox had started to suspect that Team 5D's had made plans of their own, which wasn't all that surprising. It had only been a matter of time. Right now, they were all sitting in the living room, and Antinomy and Crow were trying just a bit too hard to win his trust. It was, like most things they did, fairly pointless. Antinomy already had his trust and Crow wasn't very likely to get it. At least it was better than having to deal with constant hostility.

"How'd you do that, then?" Crow was asking. "If anyone got sick? How did you take care of them?"

"We had a couple of doctors and we learned some things ourselves. Mostly we just hoped it wasn't too serious. We ran out of supplies pretty quickly."

"I hear you," Crow said, more fervently than Paradox's reply warranted. "We had the same problem in Satellite. Martha usually took good care of her kids, though. I don't think Jack and Yusei ever got measles or anything."

"Martha?" Paradox couldn't help but ask. He'd heard the name before, in snatches of overheard conversations between Yusei, Jack and Crow.

"She took care of the kids in Satellite. Raised me and Jack and Yusei." He gestured at Yusei, who was working on the computer and casting suspicious looks their way every so often, and Jack, who was reading a magazine on the sofa.

"We didn't have anything left after the first few years. Whenever they brought someone in, we usually just hoped there was yarrow nearby," Paradox said. Crow nodded, this time with genuine conviction.

"Yeah, yarrow'd do the trick. There was this one time when Daichi got ill." Crow launched into a fairly rambling story about one of his kids coming down with the flu, and against all odds, Paradox found himself nodding along and discussing the medicinal properties of whatever weeds they'd been able to find. Yarrow had been a useful plant, found everywhere and good for everything. It had helped them out more times than he could remember.

"So yeah, yarrow and ginseng," concluded Crow. "Garlic for infections, if we could get our hands on it."

"We didn't have garlic. It didn't keep," Paradox said. "Nettles, though."

"Oh yes, definitely. More than enough of those."

"That can't have been easy," Antinomy mused. Crow and Paradox shook their heads simultaneously. "I can't even imagine what that's like to live like that."

"You never know, maybe you've been in a similar situation," Paradox tried. Crow looked scandalized.

"Don't wish that on people!"

"It's fine. He could be right," Antinomy said. And that was as far as he got, because then the earthquake started.

When the first tremors shook the house, Yusei immediately abandoned his computer and dove under the desk. Crow and Jack found the interior wall to take cover against: crouched down, hands covering their head, drop and hold, drop and hold. Paradox ducked underneath the table, and Antinomy— Antinomy was close enough to hide under the table with him. He could have. He didn't, just kept moving towards the stairs.

It took Paradox far too long to realize what he was doing, precious moments in which the tremors still continued. Basement. He was mixing everything up, confusing everything.

"Get under here!" he hissed, grabbing Antinomy by the arm and hoisting him bodily under the table. "Stay down! It's an earthquake, not an attack!"

But even when the tremors stopped, Antinomy kept struggling. He was acting solely on instinct, trying to get away from an enemy that didn't exist, not here, not now. Trying to live.

"Antinomy, stop it!" Paradox raised his voice as loud as he dared. "You really suck at this, don't you?"

Antinomy froze. "What did you say?"

"Everyone all right?" Yusei asked, carefully coming out from under the computer desk.

"Paradox, what did you say?" Antinomy asked again, his voice suddenly sharp. Despite the sirens starting up outside, the room was dead silent.

Paradox swallowed, then spoke, his words echoing far too loudly in his own ears. "Antinomy, you really suck at this, don't you?"

"What's going— Bruno?" Yusei asked. Antinomy scrambled out from underneath the table and came to a stop in the middle of the room.

"It was an earthquake," he said.

"Yeah," Yusei said. "Bruno, what's wrong?"

"It wasn't an attack." He was looking straight at Paradox, ignoring Jack and Crow, who were slowly getting up, and Yusei, who was carefully nearing him.

"It wasn't an attack," Paradox confirmed. "It was an earthquake."

"So I followed the wrong set of rules. Didn't I."

Paradox didn't reply. Antinomy raised his voice.

"Didn't I, Paradox? Or can't you tell me that either, like you couldn't even tell me my own name?"

"What the hell's going on?" Jack asked. Antinomy shot him a glare that could've leveled the house.

"Jack, shut up. Well?"

"You did," Paradox said softly. "Antinomy, listen, I couldn't have just told you—"

"Bruno, wait, what's happening—"

But Antinomy turned tail and fled, down the stairs, towards the door.

"Antinomy, wait!" Paradox shouted after him. The slamming of the front door was his only reply. That and a suddenly furious Jack Atlas dragging him out from under the table.

"What did you do to him?!"

Paradox caught the edge of the table when Jack abruptly let go of him. He'd hoped this would happen, so then why did he suddenly feel sick?

"I didn't do anything. The earthquake— He thought we were under attack."

"Under attack from what?" Crow asked sharply. Yusei froze and slowly looked at Paradox. Paradox could almost see the pieces connecting in his head.

"He thought the Machine Emperors were attacking. He knows you. He's from your future."

And even though it was clear that Yusei desperately didn't want it to be true, Paradox could do nothing but confirm it. "Yeah. He remembered."

 **oOoOo**

The beach was closed off when he reached it, though it hardly seemed necessary. No sane person would venture near the beach after an earthquake. Of course, he wasn't feeling particularly sane at the moment.

Paradox had lied to him. He'd kept it up for over two weeks without ever letting anything slip. No, wait, that wasn't exactly true. Thinking back, Paradox had let slip more than he'd probably intended. He'd just been too stupid to notice.

So where did that leave him? As Bruno, he was the new guy with no memories who had still managed to make friends and find a place where he felt at home. As Antinomy, he had far too many memories to deal with and a home that only existed in his head. Right now he was both and neither, still struggling to deal with the sudden flood of memories and without a single idea what to do next. He should talk to Paradox, and Yusei, and Z-one and Aporia — Aporia who he'd considered his enemy all along. How was that even possible? How could he have just forgotten one of his dearest friends? Who had messed with his memories?

He suppressed the resentment rising up; no use getting angry before he knew the full story. First things first. He needed time to think. He needed to gather the few things he was still sure of, the few things that were still his. And what better place to start than the beach? He followed the coastline from a distance, staying out of sight of the officers tasked with keeping people away from the sea. A news update told him that the earthquake hadn't been very strong – no damage except a few fallen shelves here and there. Its epicenter had been inland, too far from any major cities to cause significant damage. The coast was clear.

He found a path that led him down to the sea, and followed the edge of the water northwards, away from the city. On foot the distance was greater than he remembered, but he hardly cared.

"C'mon, where are you?" he whispered, even though there was no need. Would they come looking for him? Probably. Did he want them to?

Here it was. He stopped, feet only centimeters away from the water. It was almost a game. Let the waves come, step back, see if they would reach him. Maybe then he could worry about wet shoes instead.

"Delta Eagle, come forth," he said, and watched with a strange sort of detachment as the sea started to boil. For anyone else, it would be scary. For him, the sight of his D-Wheel rising out of the sea was comforting. Delta Eagle was the one thing that had always been with him, ever since he'd been a teenager just starting in the Pro Leagues. She was one of the few constants of his life and one of the few reminders of better times. He'd rebuilt her when she'd been destroyed, of course, improved her and changed her, but she was still essentially the D-Wheel he'd made his debut with in the Pro Leagues. The D-Wheel that had saved his life when he'd been fleeing the Machine Emperors.

"How're you doing, then?" he murmured, checking Delta Eagle for any damage the seawater might have caused. Nothing he could see at first glance, but he would need more time to make sure. He activated the board computer and requested his deck with more than a little trepidation. However strong the cards were in a duel, they were still only cardboard. A single leak and the seawater would've reduced them to pulp.

They were still there, still intact. He let out a shaky sigh and sat down onto the wet sand, his back against Delta Eagle. So what did he know about himself? He looked at the top card of his deck. Cyber Magician. As a kid, he'd always been fascinated with dueling, had followed the tournaments avidly. It was a fascination that had never left him, not even now.

Jet Falcon. Delta Eagle hadn't been his first D-Wheel, but she was the first he'd built almost entirely on his own, and she'd had always served him well. He'd had to rebuild her after it got destroyed while he'd been fleeing the Machine Emperor. He'd modified her some more with Z-one's help. Z-one, who was more knowledgeable about mechanics than he himself had been and had a curious knack for building anything out of the trash lying all around them.

Hyper Librarian – How had his extra deck ended up between his regular deck? It wasn't just dueling that had fascinated him as a child, but everything surrounding it, from mechanics to duel physics to the psychology surrounding the game. He'd always been good with mechanics and he'd planned to study duel physics before his entire world got destroyed. He'd even started reading scientific magazines to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in the field, as far as he could understand them.

Rush Rhino. Warwolf. It had been a war, but not in the conventional sense of the word. Of course, they'd spent the first few years trying to destroy as many Machine Emperors as possible, while the Machine Emperors slowly got better at finding them and killing them. But time had gotten to the Machine Emperors first, and when the last of them had rusted away, it became a fight against time itself. They hadn't stopped fighting since.

Wonder Magician. Versatility had become their greatest asset. A new way of Synchro summoning. A new way of travel. A new way of trying to change the world.

He shuffled through his deck until he found the last two cards he'd been looking for. Accel Synchro had been very new when he'd entered the pro leagues. Only a few duelists had been capable of achieving the required speeds. No one had expected him, a newcomer straight out of school, to manage it, but he still had. Team Karasu's Hikari, his oldest rival in the Pros, had tried very hard to catch up with him. He was sure she'd have succeeded too, if it hadn't been for—

He shook his head. So now what? He froze as other memories, more recent ones, came rushing back. The Ark Cradle. That's why he'd been trying to teach Yusei Accel Synchro. The Ark Cradle would save his world at the cost of Neo Domino City and everyone in it. Could he still go through with it?

"Of course." He needed to hear himself say it. "Of course." Don't get attached. It had always been their very first rule, the most important rule of all. Don't get attached, because nothing is worth too much to give up. Don't get attached, because anyone you love can be your downfall.

He got up and brushed the sand off his trousers. He'd need to go back and talk it over. He didn't remember Paradox being here as part of their plans, but he didn't think his memories were particularly trustworthy. But if the Ark Cradle was still part of the plan, if— If that plan required him to kill Yusei, then he would do so.

He closed his eyes.

He would, right?

 **oOoOo**

"Where is he?!" Yusei slammed his hands on the table. "What did you do?!"

"I don't know." Paradox had paled, but Yusei couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for him. He'd done something to Bruno and he'd damn well better fix it. Bruno had disappeared without a trace, and even after the hour they'd spend looking for him, they were still none the wiser.

"What did you call him?" asked Jack, looming over them.

"Antinomy," Paradox whispered. "His name. It's Antinomy."

"And we're supposed to believe that? What kind of stupid name is that?" Jack spat.

"He's not lying."

Bruno closed the door behind him, every move carefully measured. Yusei wanted to rush towards him, but Bruno stopped him with a quick look and a shake of his head. He clearly needed space, and his refusal to actually come close to them only confirmed that. Paradox made a move to get up, but Bruno once again shook his head quickly, and the other man sat back down, looking rueful.

"Are you all right? Where were you?" Yusei asked, ignoring Paradox. Bruno'd been out there after an earthquake. An hour had passed without aftershocks, but that didn't mean they were safe yet.

"I'm fine, I just needed some time to think. I went to the beach," Bruno said.

He'd gone to the beach? Had he gone absolutely crazy?

"So lemme get this straight. You two know each other," Crow said.

"Yes." Bruno hesitated and looked around the room. He sighed. "You might want to call Aki and the twins for this. It's a pretty long story."

* * *

 **Next chapter:** Yusei suffers from foot-in-mouth syndrome.


	4. IV - Eagle's Flight

**IV. Eagle's Flight**

Rua was attempting to make tea. It should've been easy; he'd done it a hundred times at home, because Ruka liked tea when she wasn't feeling well. Really, it shouldn't be a problem. Yusei and Jack and Crow had an electric kettle and they didn't even use tea leaves, only teabags. So why couldn't he even manage to pour water into the cups?

"Are you okay?" Aki asked. She stood in the kitchen doorway, watching him struggle with the kettle. One cup filled. Seven to go.

"Of course I'm okay!" He grinned at her, just as he had to put the kettle down. "Why shouldn't I be okay?"

"You're trembling," Aki pointed out. She stepped into the kitchen and took the kettle from him. Rua wanted to protest, but she was right, so he watched as she filled the remaining cups with jerky movements. She wasn't okay either. That probably made all of them.

"I just can't believe it," he said softly. "I mean, it's Bruno! It just doesn't make sense."

Less than an hour ago, Ruka had picked up the phone. Rua had assumed Yusei was just calling to make sure they were okay after that earthquake, but the longer Yusei'd talked, the graver Ruka's face had become, until finally she'd hung up with a quick, "We'll be right there." She'd told him they had to go to the garage, and that Bruno had his memories back, and that things weren't good. She'd tried to explain on the way over, but she was just as confused as Rua himself, so all he'd understood was that Bruno had somehow regained his memories, and somehow knew Paradox, and somehow came from the future.

It really didn't make sense. Bruno, of all people.

"I know," Aki said. She picked up three of the cups and carried them out of the kitchen. Rua followed with three more. The situation in the living room hadn't changed since he'd left it to make tea. Bruno, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Yusei and Paradox, both looking at him. And Jack, Crow and Ruka, all avoiding each other's eyes. Aki put down the cups in the middle of the table and went back to the kitchen to get the remaining ones, while Rua sat down next to Ruka. She gave him a sad look. He tried to smile in return.

"What happened?" Yusei asked finally, after Aki had sat down on Rua's other side. Bruno opened his eyes but didn't look at any of them.

"You already heard most of it from Paradox," he began, voice quiet. "That's all true. He wasn't lying."

He took a step towards the table and grabbed one of the cups, then drank deeply even though the tea still had to be scalding. When he put it down, he seemed to have come to a decision. His eyes looked sharper than they had before, and now, for the first time, he actually looked at them.

"I was nineteen. I actually got lucky, because I wasn't in Neo Domino when the Momentum Reactor went out of control. I'd just finished a tournament in Tokyo when the news of Neo Domino's destruction came, so I got a very brief headstart before the Machine Emperors arrived. It wasn't enough for most people, but I managed to get away on my D-Wheel."

"Tournament?" Jack asked, "You dueled?"

"I'd gone pro the previous season, yeah," Bruno said with a brief smile. "Does that surprise you?"

Yes, yes it did. One look at Jack's face told Rua that he was thinking the same.

"You can't have been very good anyway," Jack decided.

"I placed first that year," Bruno replied, almost smug.

"He was pretty famous," Paradox said. Bruno snorted.

"As if you'd know. You had no idea what went on in the circuit," he said without any heat. It sounded like an inside joke. Rua chanced a glance at Yusei, who didn't look happy at all.

"What happened after that?" Ruka asked softly. Bruno sobered up again.

"I got away. My D-Wheel didn't last very long. It ended up getting blown up in an attack, so after that I hid wherever I could and only came out when the Machine Emperors were gone. In the end I made it to what was left of Neo Domino. I almost ended up dying there anyway."

There he hesitated and looked from Yusei to Paradox. Paradox shook his head so quickly that Rua wondered if he'd imagined it. No one else seemed to have noticed.

"I got saved, and eventually I met up with some other survivors. That's when I met Paradox. We were in the same building when it got attacked by the Machine Emperors."

"That's why you panicked during that earthquake," Crow said. Bruno nodded.

"The people who survived had to adapt quickly if they wanted to stay alive. We noticed pretty early on that being in a building under attack was pretty similar to being in a building during an earthquake, so we made a set of guidelines adapted from the earthquake safety protocols. If you could find a secure place to hide, you hid and waited until the attack was over, but most of the time we had to run. Staying still just made you a sitting duck.

"The basement was the safest place in a building. The first Machine Emperors were too big to make their way underground. Underground facilities were very popular during those days."

He sipped his tea again. "That's my side of the story. The rest you already know from Paradox. There were quite a few survivors at first, but in the end, we started dying from disease and finally old age, until there were only a few of us left. We had no chance of repopulating the planet again, so that's when we started to experiment with time travel. I won't bore you with the details—"

Yusei looked disappointed.

"—but suffice to say that it took a very long time. By the time we'd perfected it, we were already too old to undertake the journey ourselves."

"So you're like Paradox?" Jack asked.

"A copy of the original Antinomy? Yeah."

"And Yliaster is the same."

More hesitation. "In a sense, yes."

"How did you lose your memory, then?" Aki asked. "Did that happen because you traveled through time?"

"Time travel doesn't wipe memories," Paradox said.

"I was fine when I came here. I just… I ended up in an accident. When I washed up on that beach, I'd forgotten almost everything."

"So that was real," Jack said. Yusei hissed, "Jack!" but Bruno didn't look offended.

"I'd be wary too. But yeah, that was real. Until today I remembered nothing at all."

"If it was an accident," Ruka said hesitantly, "what were you supposed to do here?"

Rua's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that. Paradox had been killing people, but Bruno couldn't have been planning the same, right?

Bruno looked at Yusei just a second too long before answering. "I was supposed to find people who could help and teach them ways to do so, but I never got very far. I lost my memory not long after I'd arrived here."

He sighed and finished his tea. "Well, that's my story. I suppose you guys want to discuss this among yourselves, so me and Paradox will be in the other room."

"Bruno, wait!" Yusei said, but he didn't come up with a follow-up question. Bruno gave him a few seconds before leaving the room, Paradox in tow. Yusei slumped in his chair.

"Well. I can safely say I didn't see that coming," Crow said after a minute of drawn-out silence. "So what do you guys think? Is he telling the truth?"

"He wouldn't lie," Yusei said, but Crow shook his head.

"He isn't the Bruno we know anymore. Not that I don't want to trust him, but I'm not sure if it's wise to do so."

"He's right, Yusei," said Aki. "We need to be careful."

"All right, but we're still helping him anyway," Yusei agreed reluctantly. "This doesn't change that he's still our friend."

Aki nodded. "Of course. For what it's worth, I don't think he's lying."

"I can't believe he was a pro duelist," Jack said. Crow made a thoughtful noise.

"He's not bad at dueling,"

"Not pro level."

"Guys, focus," Yusei said. Rua hesitated. He wanted to trust Bruno, really wanted to, but had he really been telling the whole truth? All those moments of hesitation, had he just imagined them?

"I don't think he's lying," he said softly, and everyone turned to look at him, "but I'm not sure if he's telling us everything."

"What do you mean?" Yusei asked, a bit sharper than he'd probably intended. Rua flinched.

"I dunno, it's just… There were moments where it looked like he was hiding things from us."

He was saved by Ruka, who nodded firmly. "Rua's right. I noticed it too."

That gave them all food for thought. "It's possible," Crow admitted.

"It doesn't change my decision. Bruno's still our friend so we should still help him. I don't believe he'd try to hurt us anyway."

Yusei was right, Rua decided. Bruno would never want to hurt him. So what if he'd kept some things secret? He'd only just gotten back his memories, so he was probably still very confused. Maybe Rua would've done the same in his place. Bruno was a good friend and Rua would always help his friends.

"What about Security?" said Jack. "Do we tell them?"

Yusei looked thoughtful. "It's up to Bruno of course, but I'd rather we don't. They're going to want to know exactly who he is and that could get us in serious trouble."

"Yeah, I don't want to explain Paradox to them," Crow said with a laugh. They all nodded. That would be more than a little awkward.

"So all agreed on helping him?" Yusei asked.

Their 'yes' was unanimous.

 **oOoOo**

"A problem has come up," José announced.

Plácido ignored him. José had new 'problems' every week and most of the time they ended up being completely trivial and solved by a quick trip through time. Two weeks ago it had been Paradox, and that had been resolved by them doing absolutely nothing.

"Z-one has contacted me. Antinomy has regained his memories."

Plácido sighed and decided he might as well make the effort to look up. "Antinomy? So what?"

"He can no longer get close to Fudou Yusei in his current position, that's what," José said. That nonsense again. Before Paradox had arrived, Z-one hadn't even bothered to tell him that Antinomy was living with Fudou Yusei in the first place.

"Yeah?" said Plácido. "What's it got to do with us? Let him do something productive, kill Yusei in his sleep. That way we don't have to spend time getting rid of him."

José glared. "You know very well that Fudou Yusei must stay alive for now. Where's Lucciano?"

"How should I know? Probably poking bugs with sticks."

"Why do I even bother," José muttered. "There's been a change of plans. We will participate in the World Riding Grand Prix."

That actually got Plácido's attention. "Right now? We finally get to do something?"

"Correct." José pulled up the list with all the teams that had registered. "Team 5D's has to stay. Everyone else is replaceable, so you can go ahead and erase one. Try not to actually kill anyone this time."

Plácido shrugged. Killjoy. He studied the list, starting at the bottom and moving up, past T, past S, and onto R. That one ought to do.

"I'll just compel them not to register for the tournament. They're some foreign team anyway, shouldn't be much of a problem." Maybe they'd suddenly find out they didn't have the budget to travel to Japan and no sponsors willing to fund them. No random deaths at all. José could be happy.

"I'll do that tomorrow. So the three of us just participate? Is the kid even allowed to duel?"

"You should know full well that rules are no issue. If he isn't, he will be soon enough."

Plácido supposed he should be grateful to Antinomy. It had been far too long since he'd got to do something fun. Maybe this tournament wouldn't actually be excruciatingly boring.

"Well then, to Team— What do you want to call it anyway?"

"New World."

Plácido made a face. Could be worse.

"To Team New World."

 **oOoOo**

"Bruno? Are you awake?"

Now he was. He yawned and looked up to find Yusei leaning over him. If Yusei was here and talking to him, that meant that Paradox was still fast asleep. He himself had only just dozed off an hour ago, the adrenaline and the rush of memories keeping him awake until long after midnight.

"What's wrong?"

"Can we talk?"

"Sure." He swung his legs off the sofa and patted the free space next to him, but Yusei shook his head.

"Not here, I—" He glanced back to where Paradox was sleeping. "Can we talk in private?"

"Of course."

Yusei led him outside and locked the door behind him. How strange that they'd trust him, but not Paradox. They were essentially the same anyway.

They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the way spring was slowly warming the nights. It was still chilly, and he was very glad that he'd brought his jacket, but the night air served to wake him up. Clear his thoughts. He could do with that.

There was barely any traffic this early in the morning. Neo Domino had reached the point where the night owls had gone to bed and the morning people hadn't yet woken up. It was a peace that wouldn't last for long and he was determined to make the most of it.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked Yusei. Yusei shrugged and stepped closer to him so they were walking side by side.

"Dunno. I think there's a park nearby."

That was how they ended up sitting on a bench in one of the small parks scattered around the city. Yusei was picking up small rocks and tossing them into the nearby pond. A duck quacked indignantly as one of the rocks splashed down next to it, and Yusei laughed. When the duck had swum off, still looking affronted, he leaned back and turned his head.

"So your name is Antinomy?"

"I've been using it for a long time," he said. Was his name really Antinomy, though? It wasn't really Bruno either. So where did that leave him?

"I just wanted to say that this changes nothing. We're still friends, okay?" Yusei said softly. Oh, he very much wanted to believe it, but a comforting lie was still a lie.

"You don't need to lie, Yusei. I know this changes things. If you don't trust me anymore, I won't blame you for it."

"But I do trust you!" Yusei looked at him, blue eyes wide and sincere, and he couldn't help but believe him, just a little. "Okay, you're right, things have changed. But that hasn't!"

"Thank you."

Yusei nudged him. "How do you feel?"

"Honestly? Weird. It hasn't quite sunk in yet. For so long…" He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees. Yusei put a hand on his back. "For so long I wondered if there was anyone out there who was looking for me. Knowing that there's no one… I don't know if that's better or worse."

"You have us," Yusei said.

"Yeah. And it's good to have Paradox back," he said. Yusei's hand disappeared abruptly.

"Paradox?"

He wondered if he'd imagined the edge to Yusei's voice. "Paradox has been my best friend since, well, since I was the age I'm now. It's weird to have forgotten him."

"That would be weird," Yusei agreed reluctantly. "Like forgetting Jack and Crow."

"I doubt you could forget them," he said, grinning against all odds. Yusei laughed.

"Yeah, I doubt that."

They sat in silence for several minutes, listening as the city slowly started coming to life. A few early-morning joggers passed them by, barely paying them any attention. He thought he saw one do a double-take upon seeing Yusei, but whether it was because of the criminal marker or because the jogger recognized Yusei from the Fortune Cup, he didn't know.

"What was Antinomy like?"

"The first one?" He shrugged. "Like me. Or well, technically I'm like him. There's no real difference. Different body, same memories."

He looked at Yusei, who was studying him carefully. "You're having a hard time believing that, aren't you?"

"I don't really get it," Yusei admitted.

"I have all his memories, and my personality is essentially the same. I just have the mindset of someone who's twenty, that's all."

"Doesn't that make you different?" Yusei insisted. "Different experiences, different mindset."

He felt himself growing a bit annoyed. Yeah, of course Yusei wouldn't understand that bit. He probably shouldn't even have bothered explaining.

"My individuality isn't exactly important, Yusei."

"It is to—"

"Don't say it!" He shook his head. "Just don't say it."

"Bruno…"

The hand on his back returned, this time rubbing in small circles. He almost choked on the memories.

"What was real for Antinomy is real for me too. The emotions, the memories… It's all part of me."

He remembered running, remembered having to give up Delta Eagle to escape himself. Remembered returning to Tokyo, finding what was left of his house. He tried not to remember finding his parents' pictures, or his sister's school books, partially burnt but still legible. He tried not to remember how he'd thrown them far away from him, how much he'd regretted it later on.

The harder he tried not to, the more vivid the images became.

Yusei's arm tightened around his shoulders, and he leaned into the touch, trying to hold back his tears. He wasn't going to cry now. It was so long ago. If he let himself get lost in his own memories, he'd never be able to save them.

"We'll change it, I promise. No matter what, we'll find a way to change it."

He swallowed. They would. But would Yusei really be able to go to the lengths they'd gone? Would he even understand why they had to? If his reaction to Paradox was any indication, he wouldn't, and that scared him. Would they be able to work together if Yusei couldn't understand them? Then wouldn't it be better if he just worked alone, away from Team 5D's? Should he still teach Yusei Accel Synchro, or should he try another way? Should he even tell Yusei that they'd dueled before? The longer he waited, the angrier Yusei would be when he found out, but he couldn't bring himself to tell him yet. He needed the peace of this moment. He'd lost too many people already. For now, he didn't want to lose Yusei too.

He sat back up and let his head fall against Yusei's shoulder. He was so tired already, and he hadn't even started yet.

"It'll be okay," Yusei whispered, tightening his grip.

He nodded against Yusei's shoulder. Somehow, no matter what the cost, he'd make it all okay again. He could only hope the cost wouldn't be too heavy for him, but if it was…

Well, that wouldn't matter anyway, would it?

 **oOoOo**

"You were gone when I woke up this morning."

Antinomy nodded. "Yeah, Yusei wanted to talk to me, so we went for a walk."

Paradox frowned and checked the room, but they were alone. The team had gone off to do some last-minute check-ups before the start of the WRGP, and Antinomy had once again declined going along. Apparently they trusted him enough to not attack Antinomy, and Antinomy enough to not let him run off.

"What did he want?"

"We just talked. He wanted to know how I was doing." Antinomy fished his deck out of the inside pocket of his jacket, concealed by the tools. "I couldn't leave it with Delta Eagle," he said softly. "What if the water destroyed it? And I just wanted… Something familiar."

"I can call them for you, if you want," Paradox offered, but Antinomy shook his head.

"Not here. What if the others come home and see? They don't know about my deck."

"You didn't tell Yusei about Accel Synchro."

Antinomy sat down heavily. "No, not yet. I don't want to explain the Ark Cradle to him. Have you talked to Z-one? Is it still going to happen?"

"Yeah." He took in Antinomy's slumped form. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no, of course not."

Paradox knew him well enough to tell when he was lying, but he didn't press. Antinomy was probably just confused. Regaining your memories would do that to you.

"Did you know that Chiasma's here?" Antinomy suddenly said. "I didn't even recognize her at first. It's kind of funny."

"Yeah, I know that. She's not the same person, though."

"Let's hope it stays that way. How'd you know anyway?" Antinomy looked at him sideways. "I thought you weren't supposed to be here?"

Ah. That was kind of awkward. "I already saw the Ark Cradle descend," he admitted. "You guys died."

Antinomy didn't even ask for further clarification. "So the Ark failed. Otherwise you wouldn't be here." He rubbed his forehead. "If it failed, then why are we still going ahead with it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't it seem kind of pointless to you? It's already failed once, why would it succeed this time?"

That was exactly what Paradox had been thinking before. But now that Antinomy had his memories back, the Ark actually had a chance at success. "You're not backing out, are you?"

Antinomy narrowed his eyes. "You know full well that I will do whatever it takes. That hasn't changed and it never will. But repeating a plan that already failed once? What's the use? If it doesn't work, then we shouldn't be killing people needlessly. We're not like that."

"The city got evacuated," Paradox protested. Antinomy wasn't impressed.

"Details, and you know that as well as I do. It wasn't supposed to be evacuated."

"Things have changed."

"Like what?"

Paradox pointed. "You, for one. You didn't remember anything until you were on the Ark."

Antinomy rested his head on his arms. "So then what do you expect me to do?" he asked, voice muffled.

"I came here to change things."

Antinomy made a frustrated noise. "Obviously. We do little else. Look, I just don't want anyone to die if we can prevent it. What's Z-one say about this?"

"He says to go ahead." Paradox quickly repeated the conversation he'd had with Z-one. By the time he got to the end of the story, Antinomy was shaking his head.

"I just don't think it's a good idea. There are too many things that can go wrong. Do we really have no other options?"

Paradox shrugged. "Mutou Yugi and Yuki Judai, I guess. They don't seem to be doing much, though."

There was commotion downstairs. The team was returning. Antinomy sat back upright, eyeing the door with a certain measure of wariness.

"Give me two weeks," he said in hurried tones, as footsteps came up the stairs. "I'll go along with the Ark plan if I can't come up with anything better by then."

Paradox hesitated. It wasn't quite the change he'd hoped for, but it was change nonetheless. "Deal. Let's not tell Z-one for now."

"Okay." Antinomy got up when Jack entered the room, followed by Crow and finally Yusei. They looked tired but satisfied, and Yusei wasted no time in launching into an explanation about the things they'd done. It probably was his way of maintaining normality. Antinomy was nodding along and dutifully asking questions, but Paradox could see that his heart wasn't really in it. Yusei had to have noticed too, because he cut the conversation short after a few minutes. Antinomy looked grateful at the excuse to get out.

"Going to the beach," he told them, grabbing his jacket. "I need some time to think."

"Good luck," Paradox mouthed, ignoring Yusei's strange look. If Antinomy wanted to find a different solution, it was only fair to give him a chance. They might not have much time, but who knew, maybe he would be able to find something. Paradox wasn't putting much faith in it, but all things considered, the fewer people who died in the process, the better. And hey, change was change. No matter what was going to happen, it would be different from before, and that alone was promising. Things couldn't exactly get worse, could they?

 **oOoOo**

Bruno had been working tirelessly on something, and he refused to let Yusei know what it was. As far as Yusei was aware, he wasn't even showing Paradox, though the latter seemed to have some idea of what it was. When he asked, the only answer he got was: "It's a project."

Paradox proved equally unhelpful, only telling him that it was none of his business and that he should just leave Bruno to it. Yusei didn't deal well with uncertainty, especially now when Bruno seemed further away than ever, so on the second day he decided to confront him.

"What're you doing?" he asked after lunch, when they were alone in the room. Bruno had appropriated a laptop and he'd been working on it since that morning. When Yusei leaned over, he closed down his files and pocketed the memory stick he'd been working with in his jeans.

"Project," he just said. Oh, not this again.

"Maybe I can help."

Bruno shook his head. "It's better if you don't get involved. Safer."

"I can't help you if you won't even tell me what you're working on."

A shrug. "That's fine. I can do this on my own. It's safer for all of you if you don't get involved."

Yusei was growing annoyed. How was he supposed to help Bruno if he wouldn't even let him get close? He'd promised Yugi-san and Judai-san, and he'd promised Paradox and most of all Bruno that he'd find a way to change the future. How could he do that if Bruno wasn't even going to trust him?

"Let me help," he said again. Bruno closed the lid of the laptop with a snap and got up.

"Yusei, I don't want to put you in any danger."

That was far too ominous for his liking. "What are you going to do?"

"Whatever it takes."

"You're not planning to put yourself in danger, are you? That's not worth it."

Bruno clenched his fists. "If that's what it takes, why not? I'm not worth more than all the people who will die if I don't do anything."

"You shouldn't be doing this alone." Yusei frowned. "What about Paradox? Or is he just letting you do all the work?"

Bruno tensed and took a step away from him. "We're trying out different ideas."

"And his ideas don't happen to involve people dying, do they? Don't tell me you agree with that," Yusei said, growing angrier with every passing second. Bruno wouldn't just sacrifice innocent lives. He wasn't like Paradox. So why was even considering this?

"If that's what it takes," Bruno said again, voice soft. "It's worth everything."

"You can't really be going along with that? Bruno!"

Bruno looked away.

"You can't," Yusei repeated. "You're far better than that."

And with astounding clarity, he immediately realized he'd said the absolute worst thing he could've possibly said. Saw it in the way Bruno's head snapped up, eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Bruno, I didn't mean to—"

But Bruno's eyes narrowed, something ugly crossing his face when his eyes met Yusei's. He bared his teeth in a feral grimace that only lasted a fraction of a second, but combined with the way he'd gone rigid, body all sharp angles and barely-contained fury, the message was clear.

"I'm better than that?" he said, voice low and monotone. He didn't move at all. Yusei wished he would. "How exactly am I better than that, Yusei?"

Anything he said would be wrong, Yusei realized. Yet the facts were there, incontrovertible. Paradox had killed people in cold blood. Bruno, the Bruno he knew, never would.

"What you mean is that I'm better than my friends. Why would I want to be better than them? Why would I want to be better than the people who sacrificed absolutely everything to save our world?" Bruno's voice was steadily getting louder. Yusei squared his shoulders. He needed to defuse the situation.

"Their methods are—"

Bruno moved, far faster than Yusei had expected. Suddenly he was alive again, no longer the statue carved out of fury. It should have been better. It was far worse.

"You mean you think I never killed anyone." Bruno laughed, a sound that really wasn't a laugh at all. "Why did I ever think you'd understand?"

 _He's deliberately trying to hurt me,_ Yusei thought. Then, _It's working._

"I'm not saying they're bad people."

"No, that's exactly what you're saying. What's it like to live in your world?" Bruno ran a shaking hand through his hair. "It must be so easy for you, always doing the right thing. Never having to choose between the life of one person and the life of a thousand. You still get to be the hero at the end of the day. You get to go to bed with a clear conscience."

Yusei dug his nails into the palm of his hand, and the momentary stab of pain was enough to make him focus again.

"Murder isn't the answer. Whatever the problem is, there must be a better solution."

"How the fuck can you be so naive?" Bruno spat. Yusei stilled.

"Naive? Because I don't go around killing people left and right?"

"No, because you can't accept that sometimes that's the only solution!"

Yusei shook his head. Bruno was wrong. He had to be. "Look, I can understand that you think this is the best way, but—"

"Don't patronize us, Fudou Yusei. Come back when you've grown up and you know what it's like to have everyone you love ripped away from you."

Oh, that was just low. "Zero Reverse cost me my family!"

"A family you didn't even know!" Bruno shouted. "I lost my parents. I lost my sister! She was twelve and I couldn't do a thing to save her. I wasn't even there when she died!"

"Bruno, I'm sorry, but it's no reason to…" He hesitated. "What would she think if she knew what you'd planned?"

Bruno laughed. Loudly. "Oh man, I knew you didn't understand, but that settles it. That settles it all." He unzipped his jacket and shouted: "Paradox!"

"Don't bring him into this," Yusei started to say, only for Bruno to throw his jacket into his face. He barely caught it. "What?"

"Paradox, get your stuff, we're leaving," Bruno said when Paradox entered the room, voice not even wavering for a second. He walked past Yusei to grab his other jacket, the one with his tools.

"Bruno, stay here! Where are you going?"

"Away. I'm off your team, Yusei. You can keep that jacket because I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

"Antinomy, are you sure?" Paradox asked, but he still grabbed what few possessions he owned all the while.

"Very. Have fun with your tournament, Yusei. I hope you can afford to stay as naive as you are now." Bruno took a deep breath. "Oh, and for the record? My sister would hate what I'm doing. Absolutely detest me for it. And it wouldn't matter for a single second, because we, unlike you, cannot afford to have morals."

He walked to the door, Paradox in tow. No way. He couldn't just— He couldn't just—

"You can't just leave!"

"Watch me. Goodbye, Yusei."

And he slammed the door behind him, leaving Yusei standing in an empty room with Bruno's Team 5D's jacket and a birthmark that was very conspicuously not glowing.

* * *

 _Prochain chapître: Retrouvailles avec une vieille amie._


	5. V - La fille qui devenait chevalier

**V. La fille qui devenait chevalier**

"So, now what?" Paradox asked, leaning back against a tree. Antinomy sat down cross-legged and mechanically started sorting out his toolbox. He'd picked one of Neo Domino's many parks to go to, this one almost at the edge of the city, as far away from the coast as possible. "First place they'll look," he'd told Paradox. "I always go to the beach. Don't want to make it easy on them."

Paradox had refrained from mentioning that Fudou Yusei might well be smart enough to realize as much and choose the other side of the city to search first. And there was no doubt that he would look for them. They needed a place to disappear.

"Aporia?" Paradox said again when Antinomy didn't seem inclined to answer. Antinomy shook his head.

"Not on very good terms with them at the moment." He laughed helplessly. "I might have been a bit impulsive back there."

No kidding. But Antinomy had told him about the conversation on their way here, and Paradox didn't blame him.

"Your sister will be born soon, won't she?"

"She was born two days ago," Antinomy laughed again, bitter this time. "I guess, Yusei trying to use her against me… I've been thinking about her a lot lately. You know, I was all annoyed because I wanted a brother, and then Erika learned to crawl and she'd just keep following me around everywhere." He smiled at the memory, but sobered. "Wish she could've followed me to the Pros. Maybe I could've kept her safe."

"Not your fault," said Paradox. Antinomy nodded. They already blamed themselves for far too much. No use in blaming themselves for things that weren't their fault.

Antinomy put his toolbox to the side and toyed with his deck. He pulled out a card and stared at it for a long time. When he spoke up, Paradox had to bend over to hear him.

"You said you could still call my monsters, right? Would you mind—"

"Give it here." Paradox held out a hand and studied the card Antinomy gave him. Predictable. "Not sure if her spirit's here, but I can certainly try."

He closed his eyes briefly. It wouldn't take much effort; three weeks ago, he'd managed to keep several high-level monsters solid for hours on end, so one monster wasn't going to tax him too badly. When he opened his eyes again, Antinomy's Synchro tuner, shockingly pink as always, was looking down at them disapprovingly. She floated to the ground and crouched down in front of her owner.

"Really, 'No-chan, what'd you do now?"

"Hello again, Wonder Magician," Antinomy said with a weak grin. "It's been a while."

"Do you know how worried we've been?" Wonder Magician interrupted. "You crashed, and then you just vanished! We thought you were dead!"

She turned her head, and Paradox didn't think Antinomy caught her mumbled, "Again." For a moment, he felt a stab of pity. Being psychic didn't actually enable him to see spirits, and he'd never been close to any kind of card like Yuki Judai or Johan Andersen were, but he did feel for the monster. She and her partners had been looking out for Antinomy since he was barely more than a kid, Paradox knew. Antinomy, however, was blind as a bat. He'd never been able to see the spirits in his deck and without help, he never would.

"I messed up, didn't I?" Antinomy said. Wonder Magician looked mollified.

"You'll be just fine, 'No-chan. We've just got to find you a place to stay."

Paradox slumped down next to Antinomy. "Z-one, then? He should know what to do," he said.

Antinomy grimaced. "You promised me two weeks to come up with something."

 _Things have changed,_ Paradox thought. Out loud, he reasoned, "You don't have to tell him. Maybe he'll come up with something you like better." Antinomy seemed determined to avoid the Ark Cradle, but it was starting to sound more and more likely that their plan would actually succeed this time around. Except for the WRGP, which they would need anyway to complete the circuit, the situation had changed completely. If the Ark Cradle were to descend now, with Antinomy away from Team 5D's and himself present, things would definitely be very different.

"You need to find a place to stay, 'No-chan," Wonder Magician said. "I don't want you out in the rain. Either of you."

"Fine, we'll talk to him," Antinomy said reluctantly. He rifled through his deck until he found his copy of the Z-ONE card. "Funny thing about that card, I just saw it when…" he trailed off. Then he jumped up.

"Antinomy?"

"You know," Antinomy said, grinning down at him, "that just gave me an idea. I want to go pick up Delta Eagle and find a computer, 'cause if we're lucky, I know exactly where we can go."

 **oOoOo**

Sherry Leblanc was having a bad day.

No, scratch that, she was having a bad month. She'd been without leads for over a week, and the week before that she'd seen the city start falling apart and then stop doing so. No one even believed her. Mizoguchi had told her to take a few days off. She snorted. As if.

So right now she was browsing through old newspapers, looking for the oldest Yliaster reference she could find. Yliaster had probably been involved in the collapse of the city too. She would put absolutely nothing past them.

There was a knock on the door, but Sherry didn't look up. Only when Mizoguchi came in and closed the door behind him did she turn away from the screen.

"What is it?"

"Milady, you have visitors."

That caught her attention. Not many people knew how to find her, and even if they did, they shouldn't have been able to come up to her apartment. "Who are they?"

"One is a friend of Fudou Yusei. I don't know the other one," Mizoguchi said. He wasn't looking at her, but at the door, in case the visitors decided to be a threat. Sherry got up and closed her files.

"I'll meet them."

She followed Mizoguchi to the adjacent room. Yusei's friend was one she remembered quite well, but the other man was completely unfamiliar to her.

"What do you want?" she asked. She gestured for them to sit down, but remained standing herself. "Has Fudou Yusei finally decided to join my team?"

"No." The first one — Bruno, was it? — smiled. "I have."

What?

Sherry considered herself someone who was in full control of her emotions. Ever since the death of her parents, she'd had to threaten, coerce, blackmail and seduce countless people to acquire the information she needed, all without letting her true feelings shine through. Therefore, she was reasonably sure she'd rid her voice of all traces of disdain and disbelief when she said, "You."

"You don't have to be so rude about it," Bruno said. Well. Apparently she'd lost her touch.

"Do you even know how to duel?"

The other man looked more offended than Bruno himself, who simply nodded.

"I've been a pro duelist."

"Will have been," the other corrected, somewhat absently. Bruno made a face.

"Alright, will have been."

"Will have be—" Sherry was starting to suspect she was missing something. Mizoguchi moved to stand behind her, a comforting presence. "Start at the beginning." She pointed at the man with the long hair. "Who are you?"

"Paradox," he said. Sherry raised an eyebrow.

"If you're just here to mess with me, you can leave now."

"No, really," Bruno hastened to say. "This is Paradox. He's a good friend of mine."

"So did this 'good friend' just pop up out of thin air? I thought you'd lost your memories."

"Uh, kinda?" Bruno said, shrugging helplessly. "I got them back during last week's earthquake."

She'd barely paid attention to that earthquake, aside from the required safety protocols. They hadn't even lost power. It hadn't registered as anything out of the ordinary.

"And so you remembered your friends and decided to go look for them?" She couldn't picture Paradox living in the city without standing out, but then again, there were so many people in Neo Domino that'd he'd probably blend in regardless.

"Well, not really, he was already living with us before."

"And you didn't remember him before?"

Paradox sighed. "Stop dancing around the issue, Antinomy." He addressed Sherry directly. "We're from the future. I traveled back in time, tried to do some stuff Yusei evidently didn't like, and he decided to keep me prisoner."

"It wasn't like that," Bruno protested. "I mean, Yusei..."

"Just stop defending him already," said Paradox, and Sherry said, "Future?"

What followed was a story almost too incredible to believe. Neo Domino destroyed? The world along with it? And these guys just happened to be the last survivors of the human race? She wanted to call them out on their lies, but something about their tale rung true. She might have believed that Bruno was lying, but Paradox, who looked like he tried to avoid emotion at all costs, was getting worked up over the story. He was sincere. Regardless of whether it had actually happened, they believed it had.

Even so, there was a lot they were hiding, and if that had been the only problem, Sherry could've lived with that; she wouldn't tell her entire story to strangers either. But that begged the question of why they were telling her at all. They had no clear stakes, no reason to trust her. If they just wanted a roof above their head, they wouldn't go to all this trouble. Something was very fishy here, and she intended to find out what.

"Even if I believe you, and I'm not saying I do," Sherry said, toying with a lock of hair, "why should I help you? What's in it for me?"

Bruno and Paradox exchanged a look, and Bruno smiled. "You're still looking for Yliaster, right?"

Sherry nodded cautiously.

"What if I said we knew more?" He wasn't smiling anymore. "What if I said we could help you get to them?"

 _Her parents, dead in front of her. Mizoguchi, taking her and running, running, always running, until they're on the other side of the planet. That card, always that card, that means everything and does nothing and—_

Sherry took a deep breath. "Just like that?" she asked, voice carefully calm. Mizoguchi made a gesture, but refrained from touching her. She was grateful. She couldn't afford to lose her cool in front of them.

"I've been... In touch with them in the past," said Paradox. "They won't be happy to see me coming, but I'm sure there's a way to get around that."

Someone who actually claimed to know them. It was a bigger lead than she'd had in years.

"All right," Sherry said slowly. If they kept their word, and if Bruno was as good as he claimed he was, they would be useful. "You'll tell me about Yliaster first, of course, and I'll be dueling you. " She nodded at Bruno. "But I'll take you on."

Bruno looked relieved.

"On one more condition. I want a rematch."

"Rematch?" Paradox asked, predictably confused, but she ignored him. Bruno knew very well what she was talking about.

"Sherry, no!" Bruno looked horrified. "No, I won't do that."

"Then we have no deal."

He got up and Mizoguchi moved forwards. Sherry stopped him.

"I will not fight you," Bruno said, every word carefully enunciated. "You will get hurt and I won't be able to prevent it."

"Just because that's how it went last time? There's no guaran—"

"Sherry, listen to me!"

The room fell quiet. Bruno took a deep breath.

"Last time was no fluke. It's what will happen every time I'm threatened. There's…" He looked at Paradox, who nodded. "There's a program in my head. It can force my body to stop inhibiting itself."

"Explain."

"Have you ever heard of people accomplishing feats they shouldn't be able to? Parents who lift cars because their child is trapped underneath?"

Sherry nodded.

"Your body doesn't function at full capacity all the time," Bruno continued. "It would be far too taxing for your muscles and bones. Only sometimes, when under great stress, adrenaline can make us do things that would otherwise be impossible. Increased strength, speed, reflexes."

"So you're saying that's what happens to you."

"Yes. Only I can't control it. The program kicks in when I'm in danger and only stops working when the threat has been removed or something else takes priority."

"That card took priority?"

"Yes," Bruno said. He didn't elaborate.

"And does Yusei know all this?" she asked. Bruno shook his head.

"You two are the only ones from this time period who know."

Paradox spoke up: "If you try to fight either of us, someone will get seriously hurt and it won't be us."

"Is that a threat?" Mizoguchi growled. Paradox gave him an incredulous look.

"No, it's a fact. Weren't you listening?"

"Enough," Sherry decided. If they would really be that dangerous in a fight, it was no use to endanger herself needlessly. "We'll duel, and then I'll make my decision." She held out a hand. "Let me see your deck."

For the first time, something like annoyance crossed Bruno's face. He took out his deck, then his extra deck, and handed both to her. She studied the top card. Tech Genus Cyber Magician. She'd never heard of it, and she always tried to keep up-to-date with the newest developments in the dueling world.

"I haven't seen this archetype before," she said. Bruno shook his head.

"No, you wouldn't have. It was fairly new when I started using it and that's only in five years or so."

Sherry nodded, shifting through the deck and reading the effects quickly. A fast deck. A strategy was starting to form in her head. If he could use it… Yeah, that would work.

"I'll still go first. You can go second."

"Milady—" Mizoguchi protested. Sherry shushed him.

"In a moment." She gave Bruno's deck back to him. "Do you agree to that?"

"Sure," Bruno said easily.

"Good. I need to talk to Mizoguchi for a minute. Stay here."

She left the room with Mizoguchi and settled down in her study. Mizoguchi was obviously waiting for her to speak, so she did.

"You're wondering why I trust him enough to make him second rider instead of you."

"I have wondered."

She smiled. "It's the opposite. I don't know what he's capable of, so trusting him would be stupid. Second is the best place for him. I can finish the duel myself, and even if I fail and he messes up, I still have you to win for me. That's why I want you as our third rider."

"I see," Mizoguchi said. His face showed no emotion, but Sherry'd known him long enough to see that he was relieved.

"There's one more reason, but I'll need to see him duel before I can be sure. His deck his fast. If he's good with it, he can swarm the field and give you enough material to work with."

"What about the other one?"

Sherry shrugged. "Benchwarmer, I guess. We probably won't need him. If he gets us close to Yliaster, he's done what we really need him to do."

She had very little idea what to make of Paradox, but if she were honest, she had even less idea what to make of Bruno. For the longest time, she'd just considered him as one of Yusei's hanger-ons, who just happened to be stronger than he looked. Then he'd appeared on her doorstep, very different and yet still the same. At least Paradox was straightforward, for all that his past was mysterious. She didn't understand Bruno, and it annoyed her to no end. She'd seen people hide ruthlessness behind kindness more than once, had even done so herself a few times, but according to their story, that wasn't the case with Bruno. Sometimes he was genuinely nice, sometimes he was genuinely ruthless, and sometimes he was genuinely both. He would kill her without a second thought and he'd feel bad about it all the while. The next time, he'd do the same thing all over again.

Sherry wondered if that was his way of coping. If so, it was an awful way.

She shook herself out of her reverie. "We can use them for now. So we do that and make sure they don't get to use us."

She had no illusions about that. They weren't offering to get her closer to Yliaster out of the goodness of their hearts. Even joining her team was probably only a ruse to cover something greater. Sherry Leblanc refused to be anyone's pawn.

"Will you search for their plans?" asked Mizoguchi.

"Only if it affects us negatively. If not, it's their business."

"All right," Mizoguchi said, but he made no move to go back to the other room. Sherry didn't particularly feel like it either. While teammates had always been a theoretical possibility, she and Mizoguchi had been on their own for so long that the sudden change in dynamics was disorienting for them both. At least she wouldn't have to worry about any misguided intentions to keep her safe. Her new teammates might have different goals, but their methods were just as dangerous as her own. Somehow she didn't think they were that kind of hypocrites.

"Let's go back," she said at long last. She kept nothing sensitive in the other room, where the two men still were, but that didn't mean she was going to trust them. They could be bugging the place for all she knew. For what purpose, she had no idea, but Sherry hadn't avoided being arrested all this time by trusting strangers.

They were still sitting on her sofa when she and Mizoguchi entered the room. Bruno was rifling through his deck, with Paradox adding commentary once in a while. They both looked up when she entered the room.

"So, made up your mind?" Paradox asked. She shot him a brief glare and addressed Bruno instead.

"Do you have a D-Wheel?"

"Yes. It's outside."

"Bring it inside after we duel." No need to attract attention by having unknown D-Wheels standing around. "Can you take care of it?"

Bruno looked affronted. "I'm a mechanic. I've been taking care of my D-Wheel for almost a century."

"Good. What about you?" she asked, nodding at Paradox.

"What about me? I'm a biophysicist."

He was doing that just to get on her nerves. "I mean, do you have a D-Wheel?"

"Yusei and his gang of friends destroyed it."

Right. More trouble. And knowing how obsessed Yusei was with technology, she was surprised he'd even done so. "What about a deck?" she asked.

"Nothing useful." He took out a bunch of cards that in no way resembled a complete deck. Sherry resisted the urge to rub her forehead.

"Tell me you at least have money."

Bruno perked up. "Oh yeah, that's not a problem!" he said. He looked at Paradox. "Right?"

Paradox nodded and pocketed the half-deck. Sherry did the math. The WRGP was less than a week away. In that time, they'd never be able to build him a new D-Wheel and construct a proper deck, no matter how good a mechanic Bruno claimed to be. They'd have to wing it and hope they didn't need a backbencher for anything. Considering she'd been planning to tackle the WRGP with just Mizoguchi, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Start building a D-Wheel, but no need to rush it," she decided. She nodded at Bruno. "You and I will duel first."

Bruno jumped up, looking for all the world like a young dog who'd just gotten a new toy. If he'd had a tail, it would've been wagging. Sherry eyed him curiously.

"What's got you so excited?"

"Been a while since I had a proper duel, that's all," he said. Paradox smiled. It was the first time Sherry'd seen him smile, and he looked a lot more approachable that way. Almost kind.

"Right, duel." She cut her train of thought short and made for the garage where her D-Wheel was stalled, Bruno bounding out behind her. Whatever the next few days would bring, it would certainly prove to be interesting. She glanced back at Bruno, then at Mizoguchi and Paradox, who were following more sedately. Vaguely she wondered if she wasn't getting involved in things she couldn't afford to waste time on. She shrugged. If their leads on Yliaster turned out to be a dead end, she could just kick them out. They had their goals and she had hers. She'd leave them to their stuff, and if they were smart at all, they'd leave her to hers.

 **oOoOo**

 _The next time the directors want to organize a tournament, he can find someone else to do the legwork,_ Mikage thought, signing another document and putting it on the growing pile to her left. When was the last time she'd taken a break? Ushio had brought her a sandwich for lunch. It was still lying next to her, only half-eaten. She really needed to get out more. Maybe things would be less hectic once the tournament had actually started. Maybe she'd even be able to see one of Atlas-sama's duels!

The buzzer on her intercom shook her out of her daydreams. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or grateful for the interruption.

"What is it?"

 _"Sagiri-san, we have someone here who insists on talking to you. He says his name is Bruno."_

"Bruno? Blue hair, grey eyes, very tall?"

 _"Yes, Sagiri-san."_

How strange. Their last check-up had been over a month ago, so maybe a new one was overdue, but she'd expected Bruno to wait until they contacted him. "Okay, send him up. I'll talk to him."

She hastily tried to return her desk to some semblance of order, and had just hidden her half-eaten sandwich behind the large stack of unsigned forms when Bruno stuck his head around the door.

"Can I come in?"

Mikage waved him in and nodded at a chair. Bruno sat down, crossing his arms awkwardly.

"Bruno, is something the matter?" she asked, frowning as she studied him. Bruno looked… gaunt, for lack of a better word. Like he was in desperate need of several good nights' sleep. Wasn't he being treated well at the garage? No, impossible.

"It's kind of awkward to say," Bruno began hesitantly. "Um, well, I'm not living with Yusei anymore."

Her eyes widened. "What happened? I thought you guys got along?" she asked. Bruno seemed to shrink.

"We got into an argument. It… I feel like I can't stay there anymore."

"That bad?"

Bruno avoided her eyes. Poor guy. Mikage couldn't for the life of her imagine what an argument between him and Yusei would entail, but it had clearly affected him badly. No wonder he was looking so awful.

Still, that did create a whole bunch of new paperwork for her. She sighed and opened his file with a few clicks on her computer. Time to go looking for a new place for him to stay.

"Do you mind staying in a hotel for a little while? I think most places are fully booked, but I'm sure we can find you some place to live, so—"

"What?" Bruno asked, clearly confused. "Oh no, Mikage-san, I already have a place to stay."

"You do?" Well, that made her job a lot easier. At least someone was being considerate here. "Where?"

"I'm staying with Sherry Leblanc," he said, and gave her the address. Mikage quickly entered the new data into the system. When she looked up, Bruno was fiddling with his phone. He pressed a few keys and pocketed it again.

"Leblanc… Isn't she in the tournament? The team from France?" She remembered processing the paperwork. Only yesterday she'd received word of some last-minute changes to the line-up of Sherry Leblanc's team.

Bruno nodded. "Yeah, I'm just staying with her team for a while. We met a few weeks ago."

Mikage smiled. Good that he'd made friends outside Team 5D's, at least. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked. "Do you need anything else?"

Bruno started to shake his head, then changed his mind. "Just a small favor. Yusei doesn't know where I am, so if he or anyone else comes looking for me, would you mind keeping it a secret?" He looked away. "I just need some time on my own. Gather my thoughts."

Oh wow, it had to have been really bad. "What do you want me to tell them?"

"You can tell them that I've been here. Just… Don't tell them where I am."

"All right," she said, and Bruno started to get up. "Take care, okay? We didn't fish you out of the sea to see you waste away."

He cracked a tiny smile at that. "I'll try my best. Thank you, Mikage-san."

"Bruno!" she called after him as he reached the door. "How's your memory? Did you remember anything?"

Bruno froze and lowered his head. "No, nothing."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Contact me if you need anything, okay?"

"I will." He gave her a smile that reminded her of the Bruno she was used to. "Good day, Mikage-san."

He closed the door behind him, and Mikage waited until his footsteps had faded away before looking back at the stack of unread documents. Good day, he'd said. He wasn't the one who had to deal with all this tournament hassle. Sometimes she really wondered if the director was trying to kill her. It would be the perfect crime, she reflected. Who would ever suspect murder by paperwork?

 **oOoOo**

There was only so much moping Jack could take, and over a day of Yusei not looking away from his computer screen more than fulfilled his quota.

"We're going out," he announced.

Yusei predictably didn't look up from the screen. "Jack, if I can cross-reference the CCTV footage from yesterday and this morning, I might be able to trace them—"

"You're getting up or I'm pulling the plug. Your choice."

"I have unsaved data here. If I lose power now, then we can't—"

Jack moved over to the electricity socket. "Then you'd better save real fast."

Yusei must have decided that Jack was actually serious, because he saved his files with a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. Where do you want to go?"

"Security." Jack grabbed Yusei's jacket and tossed it to him. "Come on."

"Why?" Yusei hurried after him, picking up his helmet as he went.

"Because you've been refusing all help for the last two days, and maybe you don't actually need to hack their system. You could just ask them to help."

Yusei was clearly just humoring him, but he followed anyway. They managed to barely avoid rush hour and reached Security just as most of its employees were packing up for the day. Not a problem. If he knew Mikage at all, she'd still be in her office, especially this close to the WRGP.

His hunch proved to be true, and just a few minutes later they stood in front of her office. Mikage's face lit up when she saw them enter. Jack cut right to the chase.

"Have you seen Bruno?"

Her smile faltered, and she suddenly became very busy with sorting out the papers on her desk. "Is there a problem?" she asked, studiously avoiding eye contact.

"Have you seen him?" Jack repeated. She wasn't fooling him, and she had to have realized as much, because she sighed and straightened up.

"I have. He came to see me not very long ago."

"What? When?" Yusei asked. "Where is he?"

"He's fine," Mikage said.

"Please tell me where he is."

Instead of replying, Mikage looked at the two of them for a few seconds. Eventually her gaze settled on Yusei, and she said, "Bruno told me you'd had an argument. Is that true?"

Huh. Jack hadn't expected Bruno to be that upfront. What game was he playing?

"Yeah, it's true," Yusei said.

"Then you'll understand that I don't tell you where he is. He's fine, he has a place to stay, and he asked me to not tell you anything else."

"We can't just leave him on his own! He's got—"

Yusei cut off abruptly, and Jack suddenly knew exactly what Bruno had been trying to accomplish.

Mikage frowned. "He's got what? Is there a problem?"

"No, it's fine," Yusei said briskly. He took a deep breath, but didn't say anything else. Jack clenched his right hand. It was clever, really. They would never tell Security about Paradox, and they would never reveal that Bruno had his memories back. Bruno had known that, and he'd counted on it. Mikage wasn't going to tell them where he was without a good reason, but every reason they had would get both Bruno and themselves in trouble.

"You know where he is," he said.

"I won't tell you, Atlas-sama. I'm very sorry."

"It's all right," said Yusei suddenly. Something about his posture had changed. He looked less frantic, more self-assured. "Thank you for your help, Mikage-san. We'll see you at the WRGP, I believe."

Mikage looked as taken aback by the sudden turn in the conversation as Jack was. Yusei turned around and left the room, and Jack followed him hurriedly.

"Good luck in the WRGP, Atlas-sama!" Mikage called after them. Jack ignored her in favor of catching up with Yusei with several great strides.

"What was that all about?"

Yusei hummed. "I think I know how to find him now."

"How?"

"Even if she doesn't want to tell us where he is, she knows. And if she knows, then it's in the database."

"And if it's in the database, we can hack into it," Jack finished. Yusei smiled.

"Exactly."

They opted for the stairs instead of the elevator, and had just made it down to the second floor when one of the connecting doors flew open and Carly ran in, looking rushed and trying fruitlessly to sort through the files she was holding. Jack caught her by the arm before she managed to drop them all.

"Oh! Jack!" She blushed. "Yusei! What are you guys doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked. Shouldn't she be going home already? Or was her boss making her work overtime again?

"There have been some weird changes in the WRGP, and I wanted to check them out, but Security won't let me access their records and I can't get into them myself and—"

Yusei was growing agitated. Jack glanced at him.

"You go on ahead. Go do your hacking thing."

With a grateful smile, Yusei rushed downstairs, leaving Jack standing on the stairs with Carly. She shifted her grip on her files. "So really, there have been a lot of last-minute changes, and it just seems weird, y'know?" she said.

Changes? Oh yes, WRGP. "Could be just coincidence," he offered. Carly frowned.

"Jack, you need to think like a journalist! There's a story here, I know it!"

"Alright, what changes?" he asked. Carly tried to open one of the files when the door to the stairs opened again and an officer poked his head through.

"You, Nagisa! Why are you still here? Get out, there's nothing for you to find here!"

Jack glared at him as he disappeared, muttering about media hounds. Carly sighed.

"See, they've been trying to keep me out, and this should be a matter of public record. I don't get it."

"Let's get out of here," Jack said, taking the files from her. They headed down the stairs side by side.

"So Jack, why are you here?" she asked when they reached the ground floor. Jack faltered for a second. He couldn't give her the full story, but she'd find out something was wrong soon enough.

"Bit of a long story," he began, and gave her a carefully edited version of the events with Bruno. He left out Paradox entirely; Carly hadn't met him in the three weeks he'd lived with them, and Jack didn't want her involved in this entire mess. Not after last time.

"So Bruno just left?" Carly shouted over traffic once he finished his story. By now, they had almost reached the garage.

"Can't find hide nor hair of him."

"Not even Yusei? Wow..." Carly looked deep in thought. "Hey, maybe I can!"

Jack doubted it. However good her investigative skills were, Yusei stood a far better chance.

"So what's the deal with the WRGP?" Jack asked. His eyes lingered on his usual café across the road. He was in no mood to watch Yusei obsess over Bruno just yet. "Come on, let's go get a drink."

Carly followed his gaze and her mouth set in a line. "Does it have to be there?"

"What's wrong with it?" Jack liked that café. Their coffee was good and sometimes the waitress let him get away with not paying.

"Nothing, it's just..." she frowned. "Oh well, it's fine! Let's go!"

She took his arm and they crossed the street together. The waitress came outside just when they reached the café.

"Jack-sama! You came!" she greeted. Her face fell when she saw Carly, still holding his arm. "Carly."

"Stephanie."

"You know each other?" Jack glanced from one to the other, feeling like the temperature had just dropped several degrees.

"We've met," Carly said. "Now, can we get a table?"

The waitress, whose name was apparently Stephanie, put on a smile that looked distinctly fake. "Of course! Follow me, please."

A little while later, Jack had his coffee and Carly was sipping from a glass of Coke that had far too much ice in it. Jack leafed through her files idly. A lot of info on all the different teams, it appeared.

"So what's the deal?"

Carly made a face. "It might just be nothing. Still, look, this is Team Chevalier."

"Never heard of 'em." Jack took the file she handed him and opened it.

"Their team leader is Sherry Leblanc. French, 21," Carly read upside-down. The name rang a bell.

"I think Yusei dueled her once. What about her?"

"Well, she completely changed her lineup just yesterday. Added two riders all of a sudden."

"That's not weird. Short-notice, sure, but..."Jack shrugged. As long as those new people provided a good challenge, he didn't see the problem.

"But I can't find anything on them," Carly said, frustration written all over her face. "I'm supposed to write blurbs on a bunch of teams. I guess one just dropped out because they're not on the roster anymore, so that makes my job a bit easier, but I can't find anything on Chevalier. Just names and ages."

Jack leafed through the file. Carly had found enough information on both Sherry and Mizoguchi, but the pages with 'Timothy Kant' and 'Leander di Velia' written on them were almost completely blank.

"They sound foreign," he offered. Sherry was French or something, wasn't she? Figured she'd have some foreign people on her team.

"Only they're not." Carly said, tapping a spot on Timothy Kant's page. "Says he's born in Tokyo."

Jack still didn't see the problem. Carly sipped from her glass, looking resigned. "I ran a search on their names. Nothing except their WRGP team page comes up, and the only person in Tokyo with that name was born in 1992 and died over twenty years ago. Ah, my boss is going to be angry if I don't find anything by next week."

"Why don't you just go look for them? They'll have to be at the tournament, right?"Jack finished his coffee and closed the file.

"I will, I will," she muttered, "but what kind of journalist am I if I can't even find basic information like that?"

"You worry too much," Jack told her. He grabbed another file at random, one that read Team New World on the front page, and opened it. A far too familiar face stared back at him.

"Come on." He got up, grabbed the file, and shoved the rest of them towards Carly. "Yusei and Crow have to see this."

 **oOoOo**

 _He hacked the system already,_ Yusei thought, staring at the empty screen that was Bruno's Security profile. Of course Mikage would have entered his new address into the database, so it not being here could mean only one thing: Bruno had beaten him to it. It did prove one thing. Wherever Bruno was, he had computer access. There was a chance, a vague chance, that he could trace him, if he could get through the security Bruno had undoubtedly surrounded himself with. He called up the source code of the page, but as expected, no trace of anything out of the ordinary. Yusei slumped. This was going to take a while, but unless Bruno came knocking on their door, it was probably the only way to find him. He opened another page, this one giving him access to the CCTV footage of the Security building. That too was incomplete. It did give him a time frame to work with. The missing footage covered a timespan of several hours yesterday afternoon. Somewhere during that time, Bruno had been in the building.

"They've put up the final listings for the WRGP," Crow announced, shaking Yusei out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"The WRGP," Crow repeated. He was sitting in front of one of the other computers and scrolling through the list of teams, pausing once in a while when a familiar name caught his attention. Yusei got up gingerly to watch the screen.

"Hold on," he said, wondering if he'd misread. "Can you scroll back up? Is that Sherry's team?"

"Team Chevalier," Crow read out loud. "First rider: Sherry Leblanc. Second rider: Timothy Kant. Mizoguchi is third, and Leander di Velia is their backbencher. You know them?"

"Never heard of them." Yusei took the mouse from Crow and clicked through to the profile of Timothy Kant. It was almost completely devoid of information, only telling him that Sherry's second rider was a 20-year-old Tokyo native. The profile for Leander di Velia was no better.

"22, born in Nara," he mumbled. No pictures, no biography, no information about their decks. In fact, only Sherry, as team leader, had a picture included in her profile, with her age and birthplace (21, Carcassonne – France) next to it.

"Guess we'll find out who they are when the tournament starts," Crow said. He stole the mouse back from Yusei and went back to the team listing. "Anyone else we know?"

"Don't think so," Yusei muttered with another quick glance at the list. He'd turned away already when Crow grabbed his arm and pointed at the screen.

"Yusei, you're gonna want to see this."

And there, halfway down the list, enough to make him forget about Bruno temporarily: Team New World. Far too familiar faces, now finally given names to go with them. Lucciano, Plácido, José. Yliaster was in the tournament.

"Fuck," Crow said simply. Yusei wholeheartedly agreed. And just then, Jack stormed into the garage, followed by a harried-looking Carly and shouting about Yliaster.

"We know," Yusei said. The four of them huddled around the computer screen, Carly looking more confused every second. This was bad. This was a serious problem.

"I'm calling the others," he said. Because if Yliaster was participating in the WRGP, then it had to involve their future. Paradox's future. Bruno's future.

If Yliaster was participating in the WRGP, then this wasn't an ordinary tournament anymore.

END OF ACT ONE

* * *

Next chapter: We take a bit of a break and look at some remainders from the future.


	6. Intermission I: Notes from the Future

Remember that warning about me deviating from the supplemental material? That's in full force here.

* * *

 **Intermission I: Notes from the Future**

 _Bruno is proud to announce the arrival of his baby sister!_

ERIKA

 _Born on 17 March 2031 at 6:47 in the morning_

 _Weighing 3684 g_

 _And measuring 54 cm_

—

Our baby is sweetly sleeping

So we'll take this quiet moment

To announce the birth of

AYUMI

January 7, 2033 | 14:32 | 51 cm | 3354 g

—

Tiny soul, so sweet and new

The world is just waiting for you

Announcing the birth of our baby boy

KOUKI

光希

25 April 2033 | 1:14

51 cm | 3289 g

* * *

 **Neo Domino News Online**

 **Carly Nagisa**

Wednesday 26 April 2034

.jp

 _Editorial_

 **Synchronizing with the city: How the Satellite children are finding their place**

It's a sunny day when Kokoro walks down the Neo Domino boulevard, on her way to Central Junior High. She's excited, but also a bit anxious. At twelve, today is her very first day at her new school. Immaculately dressed in the girl's uniform, she's hoping to make a good first impression, like all new students are wont to do. And of course she's curious about all her new classes. "Especially maths," she tells me. "Crow-niichan ( _Crow Hogan, who raised her – Ed._ ) taught me maths, and I always liked it."

It wasn't always like that. Kokoro was born in Satellite, and for the first seven years of her life, she knew no other life than the constant run-and-hide that most Satellite children were so used to. Five years ago, when Satellite and the City were reunited, she enrolled in primary school for the first time in her life. She didn't like it. She was always 'that Satellite kid' who would never amount to anything. A sad story, and unfortunately a common one for all the children who were born in Satellite.

Why is that, though? Are the Satellite children less intelligent than City children? Clearly that isn't the case. One need only look at Fudou Yusei, who grew up in Satellite, yet became a Pro Duelist and is currently studying physics at Neo Domino University. Various Satellite children followed his example, enrolling at Neo Domino University or carving out careers of their own. The younger children all have their own dreams: 13-year-old Takuya wants to become a Security officer. Daichi, at 15, wants to go to Europe to study. And Hikari, one of Kokoro's friends, would love to become a Pro Duelist, "Just like Jack Atlas and Crow-niichan ( _Like Kokoro, she too was raised by Crow Hogan – Ed._ )."

They dream big, the children. Yet many of them share Kokoro's primary school experience: Bullying is commonplace, and even though Security strictly forbids discrimination both at school and at work, every day Satelliters get rejected simply because they come from Satellite. The stereotype of the Satellite criminal is pervasive and nefarious, and the irremovable criminal markers that so many Satellite people acquired while trying to survive are now proving more harmful to them than ever. In a society that claims to be tolerant towards all walks of life, the former Satellite inhabitants are still being discriminated against.

Claiming that there were no real criminals in Satellite would be foolish. For years, the island served as a place to put those who could not be reintegrated in society. Yet many of the Satellite children, who just spent their days trying to survive, are now being punished for having the misfortune to grow up in a place abandoned by the City. People like Jack Atlas, Fudou Yusei, and Crow Hogan prove that the former Satellite inhabitants can be of great value to our current society. Why should they be punished for arbitrary factors? Are we not, as a community, better than that?

So how was Kokoro's first day at school? Kokoro makes a face when I ask her. The teachers are nice, but there's this one kid who keeps looking at her weird. But, she says, she's from Satellite, and she's going to show everyone that that's nothing to be ashamed of.

 **Comments** (7) Show all ǀ Hide all

Comment by: **You have to be kidding me** from **Neo Domino City**

How telling that miss Nagisa uses Fudou Yusei as her main example. Fudou Yusei was only a Satellite inhabitant by a stroke of bad luck, and therefore cannot be compared to the true Satelliters. Did the author forget that Fudou Yusei's father was a prominent scientist and City inhabitant?

No, the issue here is clear. Miss Nagisa was desperate to write about kids' silly dreams, but couldn't find an example of a adult Satelliter who actually accomplished anything.

Reply ǀ Report

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Comment by: **King** from **Neo Domino City**

 **You have to be kidding me:** Shows what you know. Carly knows more about Satellite and the people who live there than you ever will.

Reply ǀ Report

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Comment by: **Black bird** from **Neo Domino City**

 **King:** _This comment was flagged as inappropriate. Show ǀ Hide_

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Comment by: **Zach O'Neill** from **Neo Domino City**

 **You have to be kidding me:** How telling that you immediately assume that Fudou Yusei doesn't consider himself a Satellite inhabitant. Never once has he said that he's a City person. On the contrary, he's never hidden his past and very much considers himself a Satelliter. As Kokoro-chan so wisely said, there's no shame in having grown up in Satellite.

As for your point about his father being a City person, need I remind you that the parents of almost all the children who grew up in Satellite were City people? Or are you so desperate to forget that the two weren't always separate places?

Reply ǀ Report

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Comment by: **No-chan** from **Tokyo Metropolis**

I think it doesn't mater that Fudou Yusei is from sattelite. If you're a good person it doesn't mater where you come from.

Reply ǀ Report

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Comment by: **You have to be kidding me** from **Neo Domino City**

 **No-chan:** What are you, ten? Go back to school and learn to write.

Reply ǀ Report

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Comment by: **Black bird** from **Neo Domino City**

 **You have to be kidding me:** Afraid that he's making more sense than you?

Reply ǀ Report

* * *

 **The Japan Times**

 ** _National_** |International | Opinion | Lifestyle | Community | Sports

 _Friday 05 June 2039_

 **Upset in Nara Elementary School**

 _Names and locations in this article were redacted to protect the identities of the people involved._

NARA — Yesterday afternoon, an elementary school in central Nara was briefly evacuated after a strange series of events led to the destruction of a classroom that housed 6th grade students. None of the students were hurt, but material damage was extensive.

The cause of the destruction is unclear, and local authorities are investigating the incident. Witnesses testified that the strange events began after one of the students, only identified by police as P., had his book taken away from him by his teacher.

"We're not yet sure what led up to the incident," headmistress Y. testified, "but rest assured that we'll do everything in our power to get to the bottom of this." When asked about the allegations that P. manifested psychic powers, she declined comment.

 **Read more:**

 _Psychics: Blessing or Curse?_

 _New Guidelines for Psychic Duelists in the Pro Circuit_

 _The Revival of Arcadia: The Long Road of Izayoi Aki_

* * *

 _Asian Journal of Modern Physics_ , 2039, 3, 41-46

 **Effects of Human Influence on the Rotation of Momentum as Evidenced by Synchro Summoning and Accel Synchro Summoning**

 **Zachary O'Neill**

 _._

 **Abstract**

In this paper we investigate the connection between human emotions and the rotation of Momentum, compared to the effect of human emotions on the Duel Monsters card game, as proposed by Zweinstein (2008). We compare the effects of Synchro Summoning and Accel Synchro Summoning on Momentum engines built into the current generation of D-Wheels, used in the Duel Monsters Pro Duelist Circuit, and examine the results in light of the current use of the Neo Domino City central Momentum reactor.

 **I. Introduction**

Much has been made of the principles of Momentum and its timely arrival in a world facing a drastic shortage of fossil fuels. In her 2011 paper on the principles of Momentum, professor Fudou Keiko writes that, "the Domino City Momentum reactor is a perpetual motion device […] fashioned as a planetary gear system."1

Indeed, not only is the central Neo Domino City reactor built upon that principle, but the engines that power today's D-Wheels also follow the same schematics. Even though the use of Momentum became contested after the disastrous incident now known as Zero Reverse, it was later revealed that this incident was caused by sabotage, and not by any inherent structural flaws. No matter how big Neo Domino City grew, the central reactor had no problems keeping up with the demand for energy. Even more strikingly, not only did the Momentum reactor cope incredibly well with the 2029 reunion of Satellite and Neo Domino City, it even managed to surpass all expectations. The surplus in energy made for an explosive growth of the city, which also caused a rapid development in technology, last seen when Momentum itself was introduced. The Momentum reactor has not been significantly changed since its creation, yet when the aforementioned reunion took place, its massive energy output stunned the scientific community (Hayashi, 2032). Can this be called coincidence?

To find out, we used the research of Albert Zweinstein as our starting point. He recounts an incident at Duel Academia, then based on an island in the Izu island chain in the Pacific Ocean, and states that, "The test subjects, M and A, could breach a dimensional barrier through a display of exceptional willpower and, in the case of A, a close bond with his Duel Monsters deck."2 We posit that willpower has a similar effect on Momentum engines and even the main Momentum reactor.

Our test subjects were four Pro Duelists, whom we shall identify as Y, J, C, and R. Accel Synchro Summoning, a novel way of Synchro Summoning that requires the summoning of a Synchro Tuner monster, could be performed by Y and R. The parameters used were as follows:

1 Fudou K., "On Momentum", _Asian Journal of Modern Physics_ , 2011, 6, p. 24.

2 Zweinstein, A., "Duel Physics and Duelists: A Case Study of the 2006 Duel Academia Incident", _Physics International Journal_ , 2008, 5, p. 78.

41 – _Asian Journal of Modern Physics_

* * *

 _Messenger log – 23 May 2043_

 **Speedtech** _(15:27:26)_ : Erika are you there?

 **Speedtech** _(15:33:38)_ : Erika?

 **Speedtech** _(15:39:05)_ : Goddammit Erika where are you? Mom and dad aren't picking up the phone, where are you guys? Please answer me!

 **Foreverblue** _(15:45:23)_ **:** oh god youre okay! Whats going on? all the networks are going down and I can't find anyone!

 **Speedtech** _(15:45:35)_ **:** get mom and dad and get out of there! Find somewhere safe! It's hell right now, you ave to get out of there!

 **Foreverblue** _(15:45:50)_ **:** Mom and dad went downstairs to see what's going , what's happening?

 **Speedtech** _(15:45:59)_ **:** i dont know just get out of there!

 **Foreverblue** _(15:46:12)_ : where? Where are you?

 **Speedtech** _(15:46:33)_ : I'm ine for now, don't worry i'll be fine. You guys just get somewhere safe! I'll come as soon as i can!

 **Foreverblue** _(15:46:54_ **:** oh god somthing just exploded downstairs

 **Speedtech** _(15:47:13)_ **:** Erika I'm telling you, LEAVE NOW!

 **Foreverblue** _(15:47:30)_ **:** I don't think there's anywhere to go

 **Foreverblue** _(15:47:38)_ **:** Im scared bruno

 **Foreverblue** _(15:47:51)_ **:** I can't hear mom and dad anymore

 **Speedtech** _(15:48:12)_ **:** I'll be there as soon as I can, I promise!

 **Speedtech** _(15:49:16)_ **:** Erika?

 **Speedtech** _(15:51:00)_ **:** This is no time for jokes answer me!

 _Foreverblue is offline. IMs are delivered when the buddy signs in._

 **Speedtech** _(15:52:29)_ **:** safe for now where are you?

 **Speedtech** _(15:53:43)_ **:** Erika?

 **Speedtech** _(15:57:23)_ : Erika!?

* * *

 **Internal memo: PA0-071127 to ZO0-050611, AN0-220224** _14 June 2084_

Subject designation: AN5-011083

Date of conception: 01 October 2083 _Cross-reference: Subject PA3-200284_

Date of decanting: 11 June 2084

Size: 46 cm

Weight: 2532 g

Heart rate: 138 bpm

Blood values: Within normal parameters _See attachment_

 **Reaction to stimuli**

Sight: No pupil dilation, no reaction to light or visual stimuli

Smell: Unable to determine at current time

Sound: Within normal parameters

Taste: Unable to determine at current time

Touch: Within normal parameters

 **Preliminary conclusions**

Despite visual impairment and low birth weight, subject AN5-011083 is viable and tentatively approved for further conditioning and gradual memory transfer. Subject will be kept in stasis and accelerated growth procedures will be started once subject has proven to be in sufficient health. Proposing bionic replacement to compensate for lack of eyesight.

 _[continued on the next page]_

* * *

 **Next chapter:** Important conversations are had. We catch up with old friends.


	7. VI - Dragon Children

**VI. Dragon Children**

Yugi studied the young man sitting across him from the table. Compared to that day ten years ago, Yuki Judai hadn't changed at all, but Yugi vividly remembered the younger Judai who'd quite literally run into him. Had it really been four years already? That Judai had looked very different, and Yugi had been rather surprised upon first seeing him. Somewhere between then and now, Yuki Judai had lost a great deal of innocence, and Yugi wouldn't be surprised if his sudden disappearance last year had a lot to do with it.

He'd have to ask about that some other time, though. Right now, Judai was looking at him expectantly. Yugi opened his laptop and it whirred to life.

"Everything looks completely normal," he said. "No weird events, no more shady projects than usual... I asked Kaiba-kun, and he's sure nothing's going on in Kaiba Corp. After the last takeover attempt, he got a bit paranoid, so I'm pretty sure he's right."

Paranoid was an understatement. No one got a job at Kaiba Corporation without having their entire life screened every which way. Yugi smiled and opened the faculty page of Domino University's science department. "I did find something you'll find interesting, though." He turned the laptop, and Judai leaned over the table to take a closer look.

"Oh wow, that guy looks like Yusei!" He grinned, and Yugi smiled back. "Professor Fudou, huh?"

"I'm guessing that's Yusei's father. Or will be. I searched for Yusei, but it appears he hasn't been born yet."

"Didn't Yusei say his father created that Momentum thingy though?" Judai asked.

"Did he?" Yugi's memory of that day had gotten a bit fuzzy. Of course, Judai would remember far better than he did.

"Yeah." Judai studied the faculty page. "Maybe we should go look for him? If he's a professor, he'll be able to help us!"

Yusei's father... Heck, if he was as smart as Yusei, he'd certainly be helpful. And if he was going to create Momentum, he was the exact person they needed.

"I wish we knew when Yusei will be born," he said. Judai nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! We should get him a present—"

"Not that." Yugi cut him off. Judai hadn't realized the danger yet, it seemed. "Yusei told us that Domino got destroyed when he was a baby. And if Yusei's father is alive now and old enough to be having kids..."

He could see the realization dawn on Judai's face. "Then the city's gonna be destroyed in a few years," he finished for Yugi. He got up. "You're right. We've got to do something about that."

Yugi agreed. "Yusei's father is our best shot," he said. As far as he knew, it was their only shot. Whatever had happened in Paradox's future, its roots didn't seem to be in this era. So did that mean it was all about Momentum? That seemed to be the obvious conclusion. Paradox claimed it had caused the destruction of his world, and even Yusei had had to admit it was dangerous. Yugi pulled his laptop back towards him. Sometimes he wished the other him was still with him. Even after all these years, just having one voice in his head got lonely sometimes and he really could've used someone to bounce ideas off.

"We should try to prevent it," Judai said. "Maybe we can nip the problem in the bud."

"Do you think that can work?" It would be far better for everyone involved. They needed more information on Momentum first, and for that they'd need Yusei's father.

"We should try, at least," Judai said, and Yugi nodded. If they didn't try, they'd never know if they could succeed. And more than that, they owed it to Yusei and all the people in the future to try.

"Let's pay the campus a visit," he decided. It was still early afternoon. With luck, they'd still be let in. His name did tend to open doors, after all.

"Back to school." Judai sighed. "I'm sure Chronos-sensei never expected that!"

 **oOoOo**

Carly's boss called her just when Rua and Ruka arrived, relieving Yusei of the duty of trying to get her out. He didn't want to just kick her out of the house, but this was a conversation he didn't want to have while she was around, and one look at Jack told him he agreed.

"Yliaster's in the tournament," Yusei said without preamble once Aki arrived, looking like she'd run all the way there. To her credit, she didn't need more explanation.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"We can't back out now," Crow said slowly. "They're up to something."

Jack's face said, 'obviously', just like Yusei's own did. "But what?" he said.

"Does it have anything to do with Bruno?" Ruka asked from her spot on the sofa. It was the question they'd all been thinking about. It had to be related. Yliaster had to have plans involving the WRGP, and those plans had to involve Bruno and Paradox somehow.

"Do you think Bruno's with Yliaster?" Rua asked, a frown on his face. Yusei didn't like the idea either, but he had to admit it was possible. It would explain why there was no trace of either him or Paradox.

"What I wonder about is why they could leave at all. Why didn't the Crimson Dragon stop them?" Yusei paced around the room. "It promised it would, so why didn't it? Paradox should never have been able to leave this place."

"How'd it promise you?" Crow asked. He looked dubious. "I mean, can it even talk? Properly, I mean, not just some vague feelings stuff."

" _I can,_ " said Ruka's voice. Yusei's birthmark disappeared. Then Jack's did, and Crow's, and Aki's, only to reappear in a perfect circle on Ruka's back. She opened her eyes. The white was gone, replaced by bright yellow and a slit pupil. Lizard's eyes.

Dragon's eyes.

"What've you done to Ruka!" Rua shouted, grabbing her arm and turning her towards him.

" _The claw girl will come to no harm,_ " the Crimson Dragon said. " _I am merely borrowing her voice. She is conscious of the proceedings."_

"She'd better be," Rua said, eyes narrowed. The dragon gave him a serene smile.

" _You are brave, child._ "

"Why'd you let them go," Yusei cut in. "Why promise me you wouldn't and then let him go anyway?"

" _I will not help them in their future._ "

Crow was the first to react. "So you're just going to let the world suffer for the hell of it?"

" _You misunderstand; I was merely stating a fact. Their future is destined and it does not lie within my power to change that particular destiny. Their deaths will spell the end of the human race. They do not have the power to change it, and neither does anyone bearing my mark."_

"So we should just give up?" Yusei said. No way that could be true. There had to be a way to do something!

" _Destiny has been overturned._ "

"You just said—"

" _Paradox was destined to die in that duel. Yuki Judai was never supposed to destroy that deadly card. However, Yuki Judai has done a lot of things he was never supposed to do, for better and for worse._ "

Jack had had enough. "Will you stop talking in riddles and make up your mind?" he said. "Is the world going to be destroyed or not?"

" _As of now, the fate of humanity is uncertain. I cannot foresee what will happen next._ "

Helpful. "Do you know where they are?"

 _"Yes."_

Yusei waited. The dragon said nothing.

"So will you tell us where they are?" Crow asked.

" _No._ "

Very helpful. Yusei took a deep breath. "Let me get this straight. You know where they are, but you're not going to tell us. Why?"

"Because you feel guilty," the dragon said. Only it wasn't the dragon, but Ruka, and she looked like she was having a conversation in her own head. "You can't help them, so you're giving them free rein instead."

For a long moment, no one said anything. Then the dragon said: " _You are correct, claw girl._ "

It was still using Ruka's voice. This was easily one of the most surreal conversations Yusei had ever had.

"Why not tell us, though? We can help them," Aki said. Yusei nodded.

" _You will find them in time. If they don't come to you, I will lead you to them._ "

That wasn't reassuring; the Crimson Dragon didn't exactly have a great track record of keeping promises. Still, it seemed like the dragon had said everything it wanted to say on the subject, because suddenly Ruka slumped and blinked furiously. When she looked up again, her eyes were back to normal.

"Ruka! You okay?" Rua asked, studying his sister closely. Ruka nodded.

"It's weird," she said. "It really wishes things could be different." She hugged herself. "I feel kind of bad for it."

"Well, it's being useless," Jack said. "What now? The opening ceremony is tomorrow."

Yusei thought. Whatever Yliaster was planning, they probably wouldn't do anything today. "We'll have to wait and see," he decided. His teammates all frowned, and he couldn't blame them; he didn't like it any more than they did. "We take part in the WRGP, and we can try to find out what they're up to in the meantime."

Crow nodded reluctantly. "We'll have enough time between duels."

Ruka got up together with her twin brother. She looked paler than Yusei liked, and judging by Rua's narrowed eyes, he wasn't alone in his opinion.

"We're going home," Rua said. "Ruka's not feeling well."

That was probably for the best; channeling a dragon had to have tired her out. "All right, be careful," he told them. "We'll see you at the opening ceremony tomorrow."

They disappeared, and Aki took their place on the sofa. "Can we just go over our decks again?" she asked. "I've got an hour before I need to head home."

"Good idea." Crow flopped down next to her and took out his deck. Yusei sat down on the floor next to them. Having a distraction would be good. They still had a tournament to win, and they'd have to give it their very best, regardless of everything that had happened. Or could happen. Yusei switched decks with Jack as Crow did the same with Aki. They'd have to give it their all.

 **oOoOo**

Rua cast another sidelong glance at her, the tenth in as many minutes. Ruka grimaced but didn't call him out on it. Of course he was worried. Channeling the dragon had left her feeling faint and even though the fresh air was doing her good, she still wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. They made their way home in silence, only stopping at a small café near Duel Academia to pick up dinner. Nobody would be home and neither of them felt like cooking. It was starting to go dark by the time they reached Neo Domino Central Municipal Park, but the park was well-lit enough that they could use it as a shortcut.

Several kids only a little younger than Ruka herself were playing by the pond. As she and Rua walked by, a scuffle broke out. Two boys, looking about ten, had gotten in a fight, with the other children around them egging them on. Ruka looked around, but the adults in the park either hadn't noticed or didn't want to interfere. She shared a glance with Rua, who nodded.

"Hey, cut that out!" he shouted, pushing his way through the gang of onlookers, Ruka right behind him. The boys continued their fight. Rua grabbed one of them by the arm and with Ruka's help, he managed to pull the two apart.

"What's going on?" Ruka asked calmly. The boy she and Rua were holding was trying to pull himself loose. The other one had landed flat on the ground, his black hair in complete disarray. He had a split lip and gingerly wiped the blood off his face. He grimaced.

"He stole my phone!" the first boy shouted.

"I told you, I didn't steal your goddamn phone! You just lost it because you're an idiot!"

The first kid pulled himself free. "You stole it and you're just lying to get away! That's what you people all do!"

You people? Ruka looked from one kid to the other, confused. The black-haired boy got back up, taking on a defensive stance, and only now did Ruka catch the small triangle under his left eye. Oh! A criminal marker?

"Where did you see your phone last?" she asked the first boy. He whirled on her and Rua took a step forward. The boy deflated.

"It was in my bag until he took it!" he growled.

"I didn't steal nothin'!"

"Just go back to your stupid island!" someone shouted. A girl. Rua turned on her and pointed.

"Go get his bag instead of saying ridiculous things," he snapped. She hesitated. "Now!"

"What right do you think you have—"

"Oh, do it already," the first boy said. The girl huffed, but left and returned moments later with a bright red sports bag. She tossed it at the boy, who turned to Rua.

"Happy now?"

Rua glared. "Now open it and look for your phone."

"I told you already, it's not there! He took it!"

"I didn't!"

Ruka resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Please just do it," she said. The boy impatiently unzipped the bag and showed the contents to them.

"See? No phone," he snapped. Rua grabbed the bag and turned it upside-down, unceremoniously dumping its contents on the ground. There was a jacket, a single book and a whole lot of sweets, and, on top of the pile, a phone of the same red color as the bag.

"See? Yes phone," Rua said. "Is that enough proof for you?"

The black-haired boy laughed. "Told you I didn't take it," he said. The first boy pulled his bag out of Rua's hands and quickly shoved its contents back inside, an embarrassed blush appearing on his face. Moments later, he and his friends disappeared, leaving Ruka and Rua alone with the boy with the criminal marker.

"I don't need the help of a bunch of City brats," he snapped, gingerly touching his lip. It had stopped bleeding, but it looked swollen.

"We were just trying to help," Rua said with a frown. "Is that so bad?"

"Yeah well, I've been looking out for myself for ten years. I'll be fine now. 's not like a bunch of spoiled brats like you know what it's like in Satellite anyway."

"But with the Daedalus Bridge, I thought it was fine..." Ruka trailed off. Wasn't it? Yusei and Jack and Crow certainly seemed fine.

"What kind of dreamworld do you live in, girlie?"

"Hey, we know Yusei and Jack and Crow, and they—" Rua started to say. The boy cut him off.

"Oh, you think you know them? Well, maybe you should actually ask them about it instead of thinking you know everything." He turned his back to them and ran in the opposite direction the other kids had gone off to. That hadn't gone very well, Ruka thought dejectedly. Why was everyone so mean to each other?

Someone cackled. "No wonder you humans always kill each other! Just look at you!"

Wait... Ruka looked up, only to catch Lucciano-kun sitting in a tree just meters away from them. Had he been here all this time?

"Hey, you!" Rua shouted. "Get down here. What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Me?" Lucciano-kun made a mock-surprised face. "I'm just enjoying a nice day in the park!"

"Lucciano-kun, where is Bruno?" Ruka asked. Lucciano-kun giggled.

"Antinomy? How should I know where that idiot is?"

"I don't believe you," Rua said stubbornly. "You've got to know something."

"And I don't." Lucciano-kun jumped out of the tree. "If he can't even do something as simple as kill you all, then what use is he to us anyway?"

He turned around and walked away. Rua and Ruka shared a glance. There was no way he didn't know anything at all.

"What about Paradox?" Ruka asked.

"What about him? He's an even bigger idiot, letting himself be defeated like that."

"Get back here!" Rua said. Lucciano-kun looked over his shoulder.

"You'll just have to catch me." And he was off running. Rua was after him within seconds, Ruka a bit behind. Lucciano-kun picked the entrance closest to the Security building to leave the park, and he crossed the street right in front a bunch of passing cars, forcing Rua and Ruka to wait amidst the noise of car horns honking. By the time they crossed the road, Lucciano-kun had already rounded the corner. They almost caught up with him in the next street, near an intersection, and when he saw them nearing he ran onto the street again.

"Hey!" A woman walking nearby caught him by the arm and pulled him back just as a truck thundered by. It'd have hit him if he'd crossed the street there and then. "Are you crazy? What's gotten into you to do something like that?"

Rua wanted to run forward, but Ruka stopped him. "Look," she whispered. Lucciano-kun's eyes had gone wide with undisguised horror.

"Let me go!" He violently pulled away from the woman. "You're not real! You're not real!" he whirled around, pointing at the man who had been walking next to her. "None of you are real and you're going to die! You're all going to die and you should all die and I'm going to be happy when you die because I don't need you!"

"Hey, kid, are you—"

Lucciano-kun backed away when the woman reached for him and hurled himself across the street. An approaching car only barely managed to hit the brakes. By the time traffic got moving again, Lucciano-kun was gone.

"What was that about?" Rua muttered as the two of them neared the woman Lucciano had reacted so violently to. The man with her took her by her shoulders and steered her towards a calmer spot. Both of them looked familiar. Ruka squinted. Where did she know them from?

"You okay, Stephanie?" he asked. "What happened?"

"I have no idea." the woman answered. "He was about to jump in front of a truck, so I stopped him, and well... _That._ "

"Um, miss?" Ruka carefully approached her. "I'm sorry, it's kind of our fault... We just wanted to ask him something and he ran away."

"I don't know what came over him... Ah, it's fine, don't worry about it." She smiled. "No one got hurt, right? Oh! You are Ruka-chan and Rua-kun, aren't you? I've seen you around Atlas-sama!"

Finally Ruka recognized her. The waitress working at the café near the garage, where Jack bought all the coffee Crow complained about. The man next to her was the owner of the place.

"Steph, why don't take you take the rest of your time off?" he told the waitress. "I can carry our stuff back on my own." He held up the bags he'd been carrying and made to grab the ones Stephanie had dropped.

"Oh, no, it's fine, Yaso-san," Stephanie said. The man shook his head with a resigned smile.

"And I keep telling you to call me Yaso," he said, picking up the bags. Stephanie got back up with a shrug.

"If I may ask, did you know him?" Ruka asked. Stephanie frowned.

"Not at all. It's the first time in my life I've seen him."

Ruka nodded as Stephanie and Yaso-san left. She shared a look with her twin. Rua looked distinctly uncomfortable. What had caused Lucciano-kun to react like that to people he didn't even know? She'd never seen him like this. He'd been terrified of Stephanie, but why?

"That was weird," Rua said, falling in step next to her. Ruka nodded, deep in thought. Now they'd lost Lucciano-kun, and she doubted he'd show himself again today. That meant they wouldn't even get any answers about Bruno and Paradox. Had he been telling the truth when he said he didn't know anything about them? She could hardly believe it. And what about his outburst just now?

She sighed. She was tired. First the Crimson Dragon using her as a temporary vessel, then chasing Lucciano-kun halfway through town, and to boot, it was already getting dark. "Let's just go home," she said. Rua put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just tired." She smiled at her brother. "I'll just go to bed early."

"The dragon didn't do anything to you, did it?"

"It's really nice!" she insisted. "It didn't hurt me at all. Besides, it liked you."

"It did?" Rua looked momentarily thrown. "That's good, I guess..."

"We'll see Lucciano-kun tomorrow at the opening of the WRGP," Ruka said. "Let's try again then."

Rua kicked a pebble away. "Yeah. He can't keep hiding forever."

 **oOoOo**

"Good evening," a woman said. Yusei looked up from Yusei-Go's engine and wondered who'd left the door unlocked. He put down his spanner and wiped his hands on a rag.

"Hello. Can I help you?" It wouldn't be the first time people came to the garage to ask for his help. Never this late in the evening, though. Aki had long gone home and Crow and Jack had gone out, probably to quench their nerves for the WRGP. When Yusei was nervous, he worked on Yusei-Go until he fell asleep next to it.

The woman came down the stairs, her gaze flitting across the four D-Wheels in the garage. "My name is Tenjoin Asuka," she said. "I would like to talk to you, if you can spare some time."

"I'm afraid I currently do not have time to take on any repair works."

"That's not why I'm here." She navigated her way past Aki's D-Wheel and held out a hand for him to shake. "I'm a friend of Yuki Judai."

That was one way to get his attention. "Judai-san? Where is he? Is he doing all right?"

Tenjoin-san bowed her head. "We lost Judai, Yusei-kun."

No way. "He's dead?!"

"No, he's lost," she said. "He's alive, but trapped in another dimension."

"How?"

"Zero Reverse wasn't kind on us," she said, eyes fixed on a point somewhere at Yusei's feet. "Judai survived. My brother did not."

"I'm sorry," Yusei said.

Tenjoin-san shrugged. "I'm just one of many who lost friends and family. My grief is no more important than anyone else's."

"It's no less important either."

"That is true," she said, and smiled at him for the first time. "I think Judai was right about you." Her smiled vanished. "Judai tried to prevent Zero Reverse, or at the very least mitigate its effects. I don't know if he changed anything or not, but after everything had settled down, he was nowhere to be found. For years, we thought he was dead."

"But he isn't?"

"From what Johan gathered, Zero Reverse created a rift between dimensions. Judai and Yubel were never entirely from this world. They should have been fine, but combined with Momentum, the rift worked like a magnet on them."

"Johan?" The name sounded familiar.

"Johan Andersen. His Rainbow Dragon can cross dimensions under the right circumstances."

Oh, that Johan. "And the right circumstances...?"

"Haven't come along yet." Tenjoin-san sighed. "Sometimes I think they never will."

"I'm sure they will. Judai-san wouldn't just leave all his friends behind."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" she said cryptically. "It's been almost twenty years now. Sometimes he gets messages through; that's how we know he's alive in the first place. The last one was a few years ago.

"After Zero Reverse I went to America. I couldn't bear staying here anymore, not with Fubuki gone. I only returned last week when Duel Academia offered me a temporary position. I do apologize for the delay. I'm afraid we had to be sure you had the right age before contacting you."

Yusei kept his face carefully neutral. So Yugi-san and Judai-san hadn't actually forgotten about them. If they'd known earlier, Bruno might not have left.

"What's the message?" he asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know everything that happened myself. Do you have time to come to Kaiba Corp.?"

"What, now?" he asked. On the eve of the WRGP?

Tenjoin-san seemed to have realized too. She frowned. "Yes, the timing is a bit inconvenient, isn't it? When's your first match?"

"Probably next week. The opening ceremony is tomorrow and we have a week of practice runs after that," he said. "We'll know tomorrow."

"All right. Come to Kaiba Corp. on Wednesday evening around eight. You can bring your friends. Ask for Kaiba Mokuba."

The CEO himself? Even he was involved? Yugi-san and Judai-san had really done a lot of work. "Thank you, Tenjoin-san. That's great news." Yusei said. It came a bit late, but better late than never.

She only nodded. "Good luck, Yusei-kun. I'd very much like to avoid a repeat of Zero Reverse."

 **oOoOo**

Domino University's campus was located on the outskirts of the city, easy to reach by bus or subway, but far away from the busy city center. It had expanded massively in recent years, and many of the buildings still had an undeniably new look to them. Judai and Yugi got off the subway, followed by the stares of many students. Being Mutou Yugi clearly got you some attention, Judai reflected. He was kind of glad he hadn't entered the pro leagues. Putting up with constant attention wasn't his idea of fun.

 _Your idea of fun involves dueling 24/7._

"Hey, don't forget fried shrimp! And fishing," Judai told Yubel. Yugi looked up curiously.

"One of your spirits?" he guessed. Judai nodded.

"Yubel."

They walked down the long lane that led through the science building of the university. Like many of the other buildings, it was brand new, but unlike the arts building, which someone had seemed fit to paint in the gaudiest colors they could find, this building was all metal and concrete. The sliding doors slid open when they approached and Yugi went straight for the reception counter.

"Hello," he said. The receptionist did a double-take upon seeing him, but quickly schooled her expression.

"Good afternoon. Can I help you?"

"We were wondering where we could find professor Fudou. Is his office in this building?" Yugi asked.

"That's here, yes. Do you have an appointment?"

"We were kind of hoping we could talk to him if he had some time to spare," Judai said, giving her his best smile. It didn't seem to have any effect.

"He doesn't usually see people without an appointment." She picked up the phone. "I'll check if he's in his office."

After just a few seconds, someone on the other side of the line answered. "Professor Fudou, hello. This is the main counter. There are two people here who'd like to see you. Can you spare some time?" the receptionist said. She covered the horn. "What did you say your names were again?"

"Yuki Judai and Mutou Yugi," Yugi replied. The receptionist repeated the names to professor Fudou. There was a moment of silence on the other end, then what sounded like a question.

"Why do you want to see him?" the receptionist asked them again.

"It's about his Momentum project," Judai said. More silence, then another short reply. The receptionist put down the phone.

"He'll see you," she said. "His office is 07.18, seventh floor, to the right when you exit the elevator."

"Thank you," Yugi said, and he and Judai headed for the elevators, which were far too cramped for Judai's liking. Did they just run out of money when it came to elevators or something? Fortunately it didn't take long for them to reach the seventh floor. The corridor was practically abandoned and they walked the few meters to professor Fudou's office without passing anyone. Yugi knocked.

"Come in, the door's open."

Judai pushed open the door and entered. Professor Fudou nodded when they came in. He was younger than Judai had expected him to be, maybe Yugi's age or a bit younger. Certainly young to be a professor, but if he was as smart as Yusei, that was no surprise. Up close, his resemblance to Yusei was even clearer than in the picture. No one would doubt that they were related.

"I'm Fudou Hatori," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Yugi replied. He sat down on one of the two chairs in front of professor's desk. Judai closed the door and took the other chair.

"I must say, I hadn't expected to have Mutou Yugi come here," professor Fudou said. "What brings you here?"

"We wanted some more information about your Momentum project," Yugi said. Professor Fudou placed his hands under his chin.

"You know, I find that very interesting," he said, "considering the Momentum project is fully classified. Not even the King of Games is qualified to know about it."

"Kaiba-kun told us about it," Yugi said quickly. Professor Fudou smiled.

"Kaiba Seto isn't qualified to know about Momentum either."

Judai exchanged a quick glance with Yugi. Looked like they'd been right in thinking professor Fudou was smart. A bit too smart, apparently.

"Look," Judai said. Might as well get straight to the point. "This is going to sound completely unbelievable, but what would you say if we said someone from the future told us about it?"

"Then I'd ask you how they got the necessary security clearance. And I'd also like to know how they managed to travel through time," professor Fudou said serenely.

"It was your son."

That finally surprised the man. He sat up straight and said, "I don't have a son."

Yugi was shaking his head. Judai persevered. "That's because he hasn't been born yet."

"I hope you'll understand that I have trouble believing your story," professor Fudou said. "Time travel has not been invented, and none of our current theories have worked so far. Unless you have some way to prove your story, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Judai-kun?" Yugi asked. Judai nodded and fished his laptop out of his backpack. All of the data Yusei and Paradox had worked on was still on there. He waited for the file to load, then turned the laptop to professor Fudou. They waited in awkward silence as he read, his eyes growing wider the further he got. When he reached the end of the file, something like doubt had crept into his expression.

"Whoever wrote this knew a lot about Momentum," he said at long last. "It fits our theories almost perfectly. Still, I don't see why I should believe you traveled through time. How can I know you didn't somehow hack our systems?"

Judai smothered a disbelieving laugh. Maybe Misawa might have been able to, but Judai sure as hell wouldn't be able to get into the servers of a university, especially if the Momentum project was as high-level as professor Fudou claimed it was.

"There's one more thing we can show you." Yugi opened his bag and took out a picture frame. Judai recognized it as the picture Yugi's grandpa had insisted on taking yesterday a decade ago. It had been a quick shoot, because they had been wary about leaving Paradox alone for too long. The picture showed the three of them, Yusei in the middle with Yugi and Judai's hands on each shoulder. Professor Fudou gingerly accepted it, and his eyes immediately went to Yusei.

"He has Keiko's eyes," he whispered.

 _And daddy's everything else,_ Yubel supplied in the back of Judai's mind. Judai resisted the urge to grin.

"So you're saying my... son wrote this?" professor Fudou asked, gesturing at Judai's laptop. Judai and Yugi both nodded. The professor looked at them, then back at the picture.

"How come you," he pointed at Yugi, "look so different in that picture, but you," he switched to Judai, "haven't changed a bit?"

"Time travel, like we said," Judai replied. "For Yugi-san, that picture was taken over a decade ago, but for me, it was yesterday."

"So you traveled back in time, as did my son, and you met Mutou-san when he was... sixteen? Seventeen?"

"Sixteen," said Yugi.

"And ten years ago you took that picture, but for Yuki-kun, it was yesterday."

They both nodded. Professor Fudou looked back at the picture, his eyes never straying from Yusei.

"What's his name?" he asked suddenly. Judai and Yugi exchanged a look. Was that safe to tell? Would it cause some kind of giant paradox if they did?

"It's Yusei. Fudou Yusei," Yugi said softly. "It's how we found you. We tried looking for his name."

"Yusei..." professor Fudou abruptly shoved the picture back to Yugi and turned to his computer. "Okay, I'll believe you for now. What is it you needed to know?"

* * *

 **Next chapter:** Team bonding!


	8. VII - Preparations

**VII. Preparations**

" _Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Neo Domino and all the people across the world watching right now, welcome to the first annual World Riding Duel Grand Prix!"_

Rua applauded along with the rest of the audience as the letters WRGP appeared on every screen along the stadium. All teams were placed strategically on the edge of the almost-full circle of the stadium. It'd been built especially for the occasion, as the MC had seen fit to tell them in great detail just a few minutes before.

" _One year ago, we finally saw the full reunion of Neo Domino City, after seventeen long years of separation. And what better way to celebrate such a momentous occasion than with a tournament?"_

Shouts of agreement went up all across the stadium. Crow made a face.

"They forgot Satellite has a name, did they?" Rua heard him whisper to Jack. Jack grimaced as well.

" _Now, I could be giving you a long speech about the rich history of the city and its famous people and accomplishments, but we're not in school now, are we?"_ Laughter in the audience, but Rua's teammates didn't seem to appreciate the joke. " _So without further ado, let's take a look at the teams who will be fighting for the title of champion of the World Riding Duel Grand Prix!"_

All the screens switched to a display of an empty tournament roster. Rua leaned forwards, suddenly tense. This was it! They'd know who their opponents were going to be any second now!

" _As you can see in the information leaflets, the first few rounds of the tournament will be played in a round robin format. We will form eight blocks, and each block will consist of four teams who will all fight each other. The teams who have scored the most victories at the end of their round will move on to the next. Each team gets 4000 life points per rider, with a maximum of three riders. When your team's life points run out, you lose the match."_

All of that had already been explained to him several times over, so Rua tuned out the rundown of the rules and looked around the stadium. Somewhere on the edge of the field was Yliaster, just like them, but he couldn't see them anywhere. With thirty-two teams in the tournament, they could be anywhere. Would they face them in the first rounds? That would be better. Yusei and Jack and Crow could take them out right away and then they wouldn't have to worry about them anymore!

Ruka elbowed him. "They're announcing the teams," she hissed.

Indeed, the big screens showed that the teams for block A had already been revealed. No one Rua knew. Block B went similarly. Yusei reacted when the teams for block C were revealed.

"Chevalier," he said, nodding at the first team in the line-up. "Sherry Leblanc's team."

"That one French chick?" Crow asked.

"Yeah."

Block C went by without their names being announced. They had to wait for Block E.

" _And in block E: Team Unicorn, Team 5D's, Team Catastrophe and Team Mantis!"_ With each name called, a brief overview of the team in question appeared on the screens. Rua leaned over the edge of the stadium ring so he could read the info on their opponents. Team Unicorn from Spain, and Team Catastrophe from Germa—

"It's all on your PDA," Aki reminded him gently. She was scrolling through the statistics as well.

The presentation on block E ended all too soon. Within minutes, they were up to block H, and in it, at long last, Team New World.

" _And with the team with both the youngest_ and _oldest contestant in the tournament, we end this presentation! Teams will have a week to get familiar with the dueling lanes and the rules of the WRGP, and next Monday, we will start the first round of the WRGP, where Blocks A to D will have their first matches. Come back on Tuesday for blocks E to H! But don't go away just yet, because the party is only just starting! If you want to mingle, or perhaps get the chance to talk to your favorite teams, now's the chance!"_

So they'd have to wait until next week before the tournament truly started. Rua got up before his sister and followed the rest of his team to the huge dining room that had been set up as a place for teams and select fans to get to know each other. Many duelists had come fully dressed in their riding suits, Rua noticed. He tugged at his Team 5D's jacket. Aki hadn't bothered, but the guys were wearing their suits as well.

Ruka looked around. Rua nudged her.

"Something wrong?"

She frowned. "Lucciano-kun isn't here."

"You're sure?" Rua looked around, but like Ruka, he saw hide nor hair of their old classmate. Shouldn't he be here with his team? There was no trace of his teammates either.

"I'm going to look around. I want to know how he's doing," Ruka said with a distracted air. She wandered off towards the other side of the room, and Rua was about to follow when Jack nudged Yusei.

"Yusei, isn't that that guy?" he asked, loud enough for most people around them to overhear. Rua stared in the direction he was pointing at.

"Hey, that's Accel Synchro guy!" he realized. Like many duelists, he too was completely dressed in his riding suit. He hadn't even taken off his vizor. Didn't that make it hard to see? He was talking to a woman with long blond hair and vivid green eyes, also dressed in her riding suit.

"Sherry?" Yusei frowned. "I'm gonna go talk to them," he muttered, striding forwards. Sherry nudged the man next to her, and he squared his shoulders when he saw them coming.

"Fudou Yusei," Sherry greeted. "Looks like we're opponents after all."

"I guess so." Yusei nodded at the man. "You're here with your team?"

"Yes. I believe you've met Timothy before?"

The man, now dubbed Timothy, stepped forward. "Timothy Kant," he said, voice devoid of any kind of emotion. "I believe introductions are long overdue."

They all shook hands, and Rua couldn't help but notice just how uncomfortable he really looked. Maybe he didn't do well in crowds? It was pretty busy.

"It's a pleasure to see you both again," Aki said. "I didn't know you knew each other?"

They glanced at each other. "We've only met recently," Timothy said.

"We needed a team. This partnership is beneficial for both of us."

Aki nodded, looking slightly put off. "Best of luck, then."

"Mizoguchi isn't here?" Yusei asked, looking around. Sherry made a vague motion with her hand.

"He's around here somewhere. Leander too."

Leander? Oh, their backbencher, right? Rua craned his neck to look around, but since he had no idea who he was even looking for, his search was fruitless.

"Hey, Sherry," Yusei was saying when he looked back, "have you seen Bruno lately?"

"Bruno? Tall guy?" Sherry asked, and Yusei nodded. "Not since the last time we met, no." She turned to Timothy, who gave her a vaguely alarmed look. "Have you?"

"Who is he?" Timothy asked.

"Friend of theirs," Sherry said. "Tall, blue hair." She eyed him critically. "He kind of looks like you, actually."

Now that she mentioned it, Rua could see the resemblance. Maybe they were related? No, that couldn't be right. Bruno was from the future, so unless Timothy was Bruno's father or something... He grinned. Actually, that would be pretty cool.

Timothy was silent for several seconds. "No, I don't think I've seen him," he said at long last.

Yusei shrugged, looking resigned. It wasn't as if Timothy would even know Bruno. When he'd dueled against Yusei, they hadn't even met Bruno yet.

"So are you looking forward to the tournament?" Aki changed the subject, and for a few minutes they exchanged small talk. Neither Sherry nor Timothy were very talkative, and after a while, Rua wandered off in search of Ruka. He found her in a corner, looking out over the city.

"It's very pretty, isn't it?" she said when he came to stand next to her. She didn't wait for a reply. "I asked around, but Lucciano-kun's team left after the ceremony."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Her face fell. "I guess they don't want us to cause a scene."

Rua set his jaw. "Better this way. We'll just kick their asses in the tournament."

 **oOoOo**

Paradox had never been particularly attached to his D-Wheel, not the way Antinomy and Sherry doted on theirs, but he still missed it. Especially now, when he was free of the clutches of Team 5D's and could technically travel wherever he wanted again. The Crimson Dragon hadn't shown its face since the day he had unsuccessfully killed Pegasus. Did that mean it didn't care what they did anymore? It really wouldn't surprise him. It had never cared about them before.

With the opening ceremony of the WRGP over and done with, they had a week to get familiar with the rules and the terrain. Antinomy, Sherry and Mizoguchi had spent a day doing just that, then deemed themselves prepared enough and gone back to working on their own projects. Sherry had been out since that morning. Paradox and Antinomy had taken the opportunity to design Paradox's new D-Wheel.

"For the last time, no."

Antinomy sighed, long-suffering, as if Paradox was the one being difficult here. "Look, you don't know what kind of deck you'll end up with. I'm just saying that it can't hurt to up the boosters a little bit. Not much! Just enough for Clear Mind limits."

"I am not driving this thing at over 500 an hour. I can't even do Clear Mind," Paradox said, taking the pencil that Antinomy was using to sketch his plans with. He didn't do well with speed and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. "Just because you love your death-trap so much doesn't mean I do."

"It's really not that dangerous," Antinomy grumbled. Paradox raised an eyebrow.

"No? What about the time you crashed and split your head open?"

Technically that had been the first Antinomy and not this one, but from the way Antinomy winced, he remembered the pain vividly. _Paradox_ remembered it vividly. It had been touch-and-go for a long time, and with the lack of proper medical equipment, both him and Z-one had been sure that they'd lost Antinomy for good. His recovery had been nothing short of a miracle. The incident had led to what would eventually become the Z-ONE cards.

"It's far safer now," Antinomy argued. "We have the cards."

"I still don't want it. Just make sure it's robust enough to time travel with."

Antinomy grumbled but acquiesced, holding out his hand for the pencil. Paradox handed it back to him reluctantly.

"You really ought to come duel with us once you have a deck."

"You know I suck at it," Paradox said. He just didn't have the talent or interest for dueling that Antinomy and Z-one had. He'd much rather stick to his labs and books. He hadn't had nearly enough opportunity for it lately.

"You can always learn."

Paradox snorted. If six decades of Antinomy attempting to teach him how to duel hadn't been successful, he doubted that any new attempts would amount to anything. Right now, he just needed a D-Wheel and a passable deck, preferably one he could summon monsters from to defend himself.

Antinomy picked up where he left off, sketching out the outline of the D-Wheel and adding details as he went on. Fortunately, he didn't try to add any unnecessary elements. Paradox was content to let him work. He leaned back in his chair. The apartment Sherry and Mizoguchi shared was smaller than Team 5D's garage, but not by much. One of the perks of being rich. But the biggest advantage of staying here was that neither Sherry nor Mizoguchi were concerned about their plans. They were free to discuss their ideas out in the open, without having to look over their shoulder.

"We'll take Delta Eagle apart tomorrow for the time travel mechanism, okay?" Antinomy asked. He scribbled down a few quick equations and slid the paper over to Paradox, who read them over and nodded. He might not quite have Antinomy's talent for mechanics, but they were both equally good at physics.

"Isn't that cutting it too close? What if you can't get it back in order before the start of the WRGP?" Paradox asked. The look Antinomy gave him was very unimpressed. Paradox raised his hands. "Just saying."

"Not to worry, milady can handle the first rounds on her own," said a third voice. They both jumped guiltily, even though they had nothing to hide. Mizoguchi stared at them from the doorway, arms folded. They hadn't even heard him come in. How could a man so big be so stealthy?

"I'll be counting on it," Antinomy said. Mizoguchi nodded. He didn't leave.

"Can we help you?" Sure, Sherry might not be interested in their plans, but Mizoguchi was still very large and very scary. Paradox didn't feel like getting on his bad side. They probably could take him between the two of them, but he'd rather not find out.

"It is two in the afternoon," Mizoguchi said. "Have you eaten?"

Paradox exchanged a look with Antinomy. They had been too engrossed in the D-Wheel schematics, but now that Mizoguchi mentioned it, he could feel the first pangs of hunger gnawing at his stomach. Now that they actually had the means to find food, they really should do so.

"We have some ramen, thank you," Antinomy said. That had always been enough for the members of Team 5D's, whose diet seemed to consist mostly of ramen and eggs anyway. But Mizoguchi didn't look impressed. He gave both of them a long look. Paradox resisted the urge to fidget.

"I'm making yakisoba. It will be ready in half an hour."

"Don't bother just for us," Antinomy said lightly. Mizoguchi pushed away from the doorframe.

"If you are to stay here, I will see to it that you eat properly. You need your strength for the WRGP."

Why was he doing this? Mizoguchi had nothing to gain by feeding him and Antinomy. "Is Sherry coming?" Paradox asked.

"Milady had lunch in the City."

Paradox met Antinomy's eyes and frowned behind Mizoguchi's back. What was this guy's deal? He couldn't be cooking just for the two of them, right? They threw one last look at the schematics and got up, trailing after Mizoguchi to the kitchen.

"You really don't need to go to all this trouble for us," Antinomy said. Mizoguchi didn't pay him any heed. He disappeared briefly and reappeared with onions, carrots and cabbage. It all looked very nice. Paradox couldn't really remember the last time he'd eaten a home-made meal. But he didn't trust it. He didn't trust Mizoguchi or Sherry any further than he could throw them. No one just made them food without expecting anything in return. Even Team 5D's had received a stipend for housing Antinomy.

"Why are you doing this?" he snapped. Mizoguchi, improbably, smiled. He took out a knife and cut the cabbage in half in a casual display of strength that had Paradox wincing.

"You remind me of milady," he said. "I don't blame you for your distrust, but rest assured that I have no ulterior motive."

"Everyone has an ulterior motive."

"Perhaps, but not for this." Mizoguchi cut the cabbage in fine slices and threw all of them in a pot to boil. When he noticed the two of them still standing behind him, he shook his head and turned around. "Sit down for a minute."

Antinomy reluctantly obeyed. Paradox remained standing. Mizoguchi took the seat on the opposite side of the table. Even sitting, he still towered above Antinomy, who wasn't exactly small to begin with. Paradox tensed up.

"You are twenty and twenty-two, correct?" Mizoguchi asked. Antinomy nodded. Paradox didn't deign it with a response. It was in the forms they'd filled out for the WRGP. They had seen no reason to lie about their age, only their birthdate.

"Milady is twenty-one," Mizoguchi continued, "and she has lived through things I never wished upon her. She should never have lived this life. So the least I can do is make it more bearable for her."

"What's that got to do with us?" Paradox snapped.

"As I said, you and milady are much alike."

What, so he was making them food out of some misguided sense of pity? These versions of them might be young, but they had decades of memories to fall back on. They had seen things Sherry and Mizoguchi couldn't even begin to imagine and done stuff that would see them imprisoned or killed in most civilized countries. And Mizoguchi though the had to take care of them?

"You may not believe me," Mizoguchi said when Paradox opened his mouth to protest, "but I will not interfere with any of your plans, presuming they do not form a threat to milady. If you wish to tell me, you are of course welcome to, but I will not press. And in the meantime, I can make life easier for you."

"We've survived on our own for decades. There really isn't any need," Antinomy said. Unlike Paradox, he actually managed to make it sound civil.

"Perhaps not, but that doesn't negate the fact that I want to." Mizoguchi got back up and took out another pot. "You can set the table if you want to. Plates are in the cupboard to your left. Cutlery is in the drawer beneath it."

Antinomy shrugged. Paradox remained standing. Why would Mizoguchi care about them at all? His responsibilities began and ended with Sherry. He had no reason to—

"I only wish for you to feel at home here for however long you decide to stay." Mizoguchi wasn't even looking at him. Was he that obvious? And what was this nonsense about feeling at home? Team Chevalier was a means to an end. A way to escape the influence of Team 5D's and stay under the radar while they got their act together. It wasn't home. Home was long gone.

"Just go with it," Antinomy whispered. "It's food, remember?"

Food. Sure. They didn't decline food if they could help it, and as long as they could keep an eye on what Mizoguchi was making, it probably didn't hurt to take him up on the offer. But that didn't mean he trusted either Mizoguchi or Sherry. He only trusted his friends. That was enough.

 **oOoOo**

 _WRGP, WRGP, Opening of some building, WRGP._

Carly sighed as she mentally went over her list of articles to write. She'd jumped at the chance to cover the WRGP, and while Team 5D's was one of the teams she was supposed to interview, even the idea of spending more time with Jack didn't cheer her up. For full coverage, she'd need information on both Team New World and Team Chevalier, and information about both teams was surprisingly hard to come by.

In all her years as a journalist, Carly liked to think that she'd learned a thing or two about looking for information, and while she wasn't as good a hacker as Yusei was by any means, she still had her ways of getting the information she needed. But the members of Team Chevalier and Team New World might as well be non-existent for all the info she could dig up on them. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Sherry Leblanc was the only daughter of a rich French family who were found murdered when she was three, and her third rider, Mizoguchi, had served as her guardian ever since. That part was easy. Sherry Leblanc wasn't the problem.

Security hadn't been any help either. The last time she'd tried to ask them for access to their records, they'd kicked her out. Freedom of information, they said. Was this what Neo Domino's police force was now reduced to? Kicking out journalists like herself?

While walking down the final stretch of road that led to the garage, she turned on her tablet and checked the WRGP site on the off-chance that anything had changed. Now that the WRGP had actually started, surely they had more info? Ah, there! Someone had actually updated most of the participants' profiles with pictures. Not the backbenchers or the pit crews, she noticed with a quick frown on Aki's behalf, but at least it was better than nothing. Her two problem teams had been updated as well. Team Chevalier's Timothy Kant was in full riding outfit, complete with a vizor covering his eyes. At least he'd left off the helmet, showing spiky blue hair. Carly couldn't shake the feeling she'd seen him somewhere before, but the longer she stared at the picture, the less he looked familiar.

She crossed the street and scrolled down to Team New World, enlarging their team pictures with a swipe of her hand. ...That was weird. Was this one of those teams where the entire family participated or something? Was that child even old enough to participate in the WRGP?

"Hey, are you going to keep blocking my tables or will you move?" a voice snapped her out of her thoughts rudely. She hadn't even realized she'd stopped walking, let alone right in front of where _Stephanie_ worked.

"I'm going, geez," she said. As if she was even bothering anyone. The café looked empty and Stephanie wasn't even holding anything. She made to pocket her tablet when Stephanie cast a glance at it.

"Uh, hey, hold on, Carly?"

"What now?"

Stephanie balanced on her toes, trying to get a better look at the screen. "That picture just now, who was that?"

Picture? Carly reluctantly turned her tablet around. It was still showing the pictures of Team New World.

"Who's that kid?" Stephanie pointed at the picture of the red-headed boy with the green eyes.

"Lucciano, Team New World's first rider. Do you know him?" Carly asked, genuinely curious. She might not particularly like this girl, but she wasn't about to pass up a potential source of information when she saw one.

"No, but apparently he knows me," Stephanie said. She looked troubled. "Hey, you got a moment? This is gonna sound crazy, I know, but I want to know who that kid is."

Carly glanced at the time. She had nowhere to be for today. All her work she was supposed to do at home or in her own time. And technically this counted as working, right? She wasn't about to hang out here for fun. "All right, make it quick," she said. Stephanie took her by the arm and guided her inside.

"Yaso-san, I'll be taking my break now," she shouted towards the back. "There's no one in!"

"Alright." Stephanie's boss, the man Carly had seen a few times when she'd been her with Jack, poked his head around the kitchen door. "Oh, hello, Nagisa-san. Atlas-san isn't with you?"

"Not today," she said with a triumphant look at Stephanie. The other girl glared.

"That's a pity. Nagisa-san, you do know he still has an open tab, right?"

"Again?" Carly said. One of these days she'd really have to ask Jack for her money back. "I'll pay when I leave."

"Alright. You two have fun!"

"Does he... Does he think we're friends or something?" Carly asked under her breath after Yaso had disappeared. Stephanie shook her head in vague resignation.

"He likes everyone." She looked at the clock. "Okay, I have ten minutes. Who is he?"

"Lucciano, eleven, first rider of Team New World," Carly recited. "That's about all I know. It's like that entire team just showed up out of nowhere. There's nothing about them anywhere."

"Maybe you just didn't look hard enough."

Carly gave her a disbelieving look. Who was the trained journalist here again? "I know what I'm doing. There's nothing."

"Alright, alright." Stephanie sat down at a nearby table and Carly followed her example. "So there's nothing. Have you asked for an interview?"

"Yeah. It hasn't been granted yet." The loopholes she'd had to jump through to get an interview with some people... At least Team 5D's would always talk to her. "So how do you know them?"

"I don't know them, like I said," Stephanie said, "but last week, that boy almost ran under a truck right in front of me. I pulled him back and he started screaming at me."

"He was angry?" Wow, what an ungrateful brat.

"No, that's the funny part." Stephanie toyed with the strings of her apron. "I don't know how to describe it, but I think he was _scared._ "

"Of you?"

"Yeah, I know, it's weird," Stephanie said. She looked around and leaned closer. "He kept shouting that I was going to die and that he would be happy when I did, but he looked so terrified. I just..." She looked away. "I feel bad for him."

"That's pretty rude, though, isn't it?" Carly said. Who wanted someone else to die? Who said they would be happy about it?

"Yeah, but you didn't see him. He just looked like a little kid who'd gotten lost." Stephanie hugged herself. "I didn't know what to do at the time, but now I kind of want to ask him what happened."

She really looked sad about it. Carly didn't particularly want her help, but...

"Hey, I've got a deal for you."

Stephanie looked up. Carly continued, putting down her tablet and pulling up the team profile of Team Chevalier next to that of Team New World, "Those two, I can find nothing about them. But you're a waitress, right?"

Stephanie's look quite clearly said, _duh._

"So you hear lots of things." One of the things Carly had learned to rely on were her friends who worked in restaurants and stores. They often heard far more than people knew. Knowing the right people was essential as a journalist. "If you hear anything about them, let me know."

"And in exchange?"

"In exchange, when I get an interview with them," she tapped Team New World's profile, "I'll let you know and I'll make sure you can come along. Fair?"

"Fair." She pulled out her notepad and a pen. "We'll be at the WRGP next week so I might hear stuff. Give me your number."

She and Carly quickly exchanged contact info. A customer entered the café and Stephanie looked up.

"That's my cue." She got up. "You keep your promise, alright?"

"If you keep yours." She was about to leave when she remembered something. "Right, Jack's tab."

Stephanie waved her away. "Never mind that, I'll bug him about it when he gets back."

"Alright. He can pay for his own stuff once in a while," Carly said with a smile. Stephanie grinned.

"Absolutely."

 **oOoOo**

Ten to eight found Aki and Yusei in the underground parking garage of Kaiba Corporation. Jack and Crow had both begged off on coming along, Crow because he didn't feel like showing his face at a company like Kaiba Corp. and Jack because he was going on a date with Carly. That had left just Aki, who'd agreed right away when Yusei had asked. They parked their D-Wheels in the visitors' lot and took the elevator to the ground floor. Yusei looked nervous. Ever since they'd left at the garage, he'd started looking progressively more jittery, and when they'd gotten caught up in a brief traffic jam on the way, Aki had been sure he'd been about to break half a dozen traffic rules just to get here on time.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out on an almost empty ground floor. This late, most of Kaiba Corp's employees had already left for home. The wide reception counter was nearly abandoned. One woman was still typing away furiously on a computer, but her colleague, a man in his thirties, was toying with his phone. He looked up when they neared the counter.

"May I help you?"

"We have an appointment at eight o'clock with Kaiba Mokuba," Yusei said.

"Mr. Kaiba?" The man said, eyes lingering on Yusei's marker. Aki clenched her fist under the counter. "Are you sure?"

Yusei visibly tensed. "Please just check. It will be registered under Fudou Yusei."

The man hesitated. Aki stepped forward. "Hello, I'm Izayoi Aki. My father is a senator on the city council. I will take full responsibility for whatever happens if you just pick up your phone and call Mr. Kaiba," she said. Was this what Yusei and Crow and Jack had to deal with every day? Crow had been right. Horrible.

"Izayoi?"

His colleague looked up from her computer. "Just call him already," she said. Aki gave her a grateful nod. The receptionist picked up the phone reluctantly and dialed a single-digit number. The phone was answered almost immediately.

"Mr. Kaiba? This is the main reception. You have an appointment at eight, is that correct? ... Yes, Fudou. ... All right. Yes, thank you."

He put down the phone and said, "Ninth floor, you can't miss it."

"Thank you," Yusei said, striding towards the elevator. Aki caught up with him when he mashed the 'up' button.

"You okay?" she whispered.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." The elevator doors slid open and they entered, standing in silence as they ascended to the ninth floor. Aki'd never seen Yusei this nervous. It was a bit disconcerting. If even Yusei didn't feel sure, then what were they going to do?

The receptionist hadn't been lying; when they left the elevator, they almost ran straight into Kaiba Mokuba's office, located right across the hallway. The door wasn't locked, and when they walked up to it, a brown-haired woman opened it from the inside.

"Come in, you two," she said with a smile, stepping aside to let them through. For such a big office, it felt quite cramped. Aside from the woman who'd let them in, there were four more people in the room, one whom she readily recognized as Mutou Yugi. He looked far older than he did in the pictures she'd seen, and his hair was streaked with grey, but his identity was unmistakable. He smiled at Yusei when they entered.

"Hello, Yusei-kun. Long time no see."

"Yugi-san," Yusei greeted. "I hope you're doing well."

"As well as can be," he said. He swept an arm across the room. "Let me introduce you. You already know Tenjoin Asuka, I believe?"

A blonde-haired woman in the far corner nodded at them. Yusei smiled. "We've met, yes."

"Kaiba Mokuba, of course," Yugi said. The CEO of Kaiba Corporation gave them a friendly smile. Aki had heard about the way his brother used to run the company, and she had expected someone far different, but Kaiba Mokuba looked like a nice, if very tired, person.

"Manjoume Jun from the Manjoume Group, another friend of Judai-kun," Yugi continued. The man he indicated now had dark hair and gray eyes, and he was looking at the two of them skeptically. Aki bristled. "And Anzu, my wife," Yugi finished, smiling at the woman who'd let them in. She took a seat next to Yugi.

"I'm Fudou Yusei," Yusei said, rather unnecessarily in Aki's opinion. "This is Izayoi Aki, a friend of mine."

Kaiba-san nodded. "I believe I've worked with your father, Aki-san." He turned to Manjoume-san. "You were saying about Johan-kun?"

"Yes, he can't make it today," Manjoume-san said. "He called me this morning, saying an emergency had come up and he'd need some time to deal with it."

"Judai?" Tenjoin-san asked, suddenly on high alert, but Manjoume-san shook his head.

"Nothing about him. Johan says it's the same as always."

Yugi-san frowned. "That's a pity. Yusei-kun, Aki-san, don't keep standing! There are enough chairs."

They both found one. Yusei still looked far too nervous for Aki's liking.

"All right, let's not make this too long, so we can all go home at a decent hour," Kaiba-san said. "Yusei-kun, what about Paradox?"

Yusei froze. Suddenly Aki realized why he'd been so nervous all the way here.

"The thing is... Well..." He hesitated and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Yugi-san, we— _I_ lost Paradox."

"How do you just _lose_ someone?" Manjoume-san asked. Yusei didn't reply.

"Yusei-kun, what happened?" Yugi-san asked gently. Yusei didn't look like he was about to say anything, so Aki took over from him.

"We had a friend," she began. "Bruno. He washed up on the beach without any memories a few months ago, and Security asked if he could stay with Yusei and the others."

Kaiba-san started typing furiously. Aki continued. "Turns out he was from the same future as Paradox, and he'd forgotten about it."

"That's... unexpected," Yugi-san said. "I take it he regained his memories?"

"During the earthquake two weeks ago, yes."

"And they both left," Tenjoin-san concluded. Yusei shook his head.

"No, they stayed for a few more days. Bruno is... Bruno's a good person," he said. "I said some things I shouldn't have. It's my fault, Yugi-san, not Bruno's."

What a weird thing to say. Bruno wasn't even the most important part in this story, and Aki was growing a bit tired with Yusei's recent obsession with finding him. Not that it wasn't important they find Paradox, but... Ugh. She shook her head. Where was she even going with that thought?

"You haven't been able to find them at all, Yusei-kun?" Anzu-san asked in the same gentle tone as her husband.

"We know he's been in Security, but he wiped his own file before we could access it. Security doesn't know about Paradox," he added quickly. "We didn't think it wise to tell them."

"Good thinking, yes." Kaiba-san nodded. "That's a bit too much hassle to deal with."

"And the Crimson Dragon?" Yugi-san asked with a sudden frown. "Didn't it say it was—"

"It refuses," Aki said. "Says it won't help them in their future, so it wants to give them free rein."

"So you're trusting some overgrown lizard?" Tenjoin-san said with unusual venom. "Why are we just letting this happen?"

"Tenjoin-kun—" Manjoume-san started.

"All those creatures are the reason Fubuki's dead, Manjoume," she spat. "If it hadn't been for all this, Fubuki and Fujiwara would still be alive, Kaiba-kun's brother would still be alive, and we wouldn't have to worry about where Judai is."

"Asuka-san, my brother chose to remain during Zero Reverse," Kaiba-san said, his voice unusually hard. "That has nothing to do with the Crimson Dragon. I know you miss your brother. I miss mine too and we all miss Judai-kun, but Yusei-kun and Aki-san are not to blame for that."

Tenjoin-san stared at him for several long seconds. Then she left the room without saying another word. Manjoume-san looked after her and sighed.

"Her brother got abducted by this supernatural force when we were teens," he said, "Darkness. And then, after she got him back, he died in Zero Reverse. She's always had trouble with supernatural creatures."

"I understand."

"I'll put some people on finding Paradox and your friend," Kaiba-san announced, looking back at his computer screen. "Bruno, you said?"

"Yeah." Yusei hesitated for a second. "Paradox called him Antinomy," he said.

"We'll look for them. Just leave that to us."

Aki had her doubts. If even Yusei couldn't track down Bruno and Paradox, she didn't think Kaiba Corp. would succeed. She didn't believe they'd see either of them before they wanted to be seen.

"Before they left, did they tell you anything useful?" Yugi-san asked. Yusei nodded.

"A lot, actually." He quickly outlined everything Bruno had told them after he'd regained his memories, with Aki giving her input here and there. She noticed that Kaiba-san was typing up the conversation meticulously.

"That sounds terrible," Anzu-san said softly when they'd finished retelling the story. "No wonder..." she shook her head and smiled at Yusei. "We also found out some things. You're going to like this, Yusei-kun."

"We went to talk to some experts on Momentum. I can't say I fully understand everything, but it was certainly enlightening," Yugi-san said.

"Who did you talk to?" Yusei asked. Yugi-san smiled the same smile as his wife. He took a bag from under his chair and fished out two files.

"Your parents, Yusei-kun."

Yusei gingerly accepted the files and opened the top one. It was labeled 'Fudou Keiko'.

"Read them when you get back home," Yugi-san advised. "It's getting pretty late anyway, and you two shouldn't be home too late. Aren't you preparing for the WRGP right now?"

Yusei nodded absently, still gazing intently at the files in his hands. Aki remembered something.

"Yliaster — those other people from the future — they're in the tournament," she said quickly. All attention was suddenly on her. "We only found out right before the opening ceremony, but they registered as Team New World." She took a deep breath. "They've done some bad things before, so we're pretty sure that they're up to no good."

"New World, you said?" Kaiba-san was back on his computer again. "Ah, I see, yes." He frowned, deep in thought. "I could have them disqualified."

"Are you sure that's smart?" Manjoume-san said. "If we kick them out, who knows where they're going to go."

"Manjoume-kun's right," Anzu-san said, her blue eyes determined. "We can keep a better eye on them if we know exactly where they are. Yusei-kun, are you sure Paradox and your friend aren't with them?"

"We don't know," Yusei admitted. "I don't think he would, but…"

"He's not like before," Aki added. Yusei fell silent and looked away.

"All agreed on leaving Team New World in the tournament, then?" Kaiba-san said, quickly changing the subject. Aki nodded. It was probably for the best. If Yliaster got disqualified, they'd vanish to who-knew-where, and they could do whatever they wanted with no one to keep an eye on them.

"All right, then I think we're done here," Yugi-san said. "If you give Mokuba your e-mail address, he'll send you a list with the contact info of everyone here." He smiled. "Don't hesitate to contact any of us if you need help, Yusei-kun."

"Thank you, Yugi-san," Yusei said, getting up together with Aki. "About Judai-san... Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Unless you know some way to make Johan's Rainbow Dragon solid, I doubt it," Manjoume-san said. Aki's step faltered. She exchanged a look with Yusei, then turned to Manjoume-san.

"Actually, I can do that," she told him. Manjoume-san's eyebrows shot up. "I'm a psychic duelist," Aki explained. "I can summon the monsters."

"Can you see monster spirits?" Manjoume-san asked, then answered his own question. "No, of course you can't, or you would've seen those three already."

Those three? "I'm sorry, I can't really. But I don't really need to see them to summon them, right? As long as I have the card."

"True. Kaiba-san, can you add Johan's number to that list?" Manjoume-san asked. Kaiba-san nodded. "If you want to do this, you'll have to go to Norway. That's where Johan is working from."

Norway... That meant she'd have to leave the WRGP. Still, this was important.

"Yusei, what do you think?" she asked Yusei.

"I think we can manage with the three of us," he said. Aki nodded. If Yusei didn't need her on the team...

"I'll do it."

For the first time, Manjoume-san smiled. "That's great news. I'll let Johan know, and we'll let you know more as soon as we can."

"All right." She left the room with Yusei after saying goodbye, deep in thought. Tenjoin-san was nowhere to be seen; she'd probably gone home after her outburst. It had to be hard, losing your brother. She glanced at Yusei and the way he was clutching the files Yugi-san had given him. He'd lost his parents in Zero Reverse too. At least he still knew who they were. She didn't think Crow and Jack even knew.

And now Norway. She'd never been outside Japan and the only things she knew about the country were that it was in Europe and that it was cold. But having Yuki Judai on their side would definitely be useful, and it was just summoning a dragon, right? She could do that. That shouldn't take more than a week's time.

"I'll join the WRGP again when I get back," she said. Yusei nodded absently.

"Okay."

"Something on your mind?"

He shook his head. "Just wondering where Bruno is, that's all."

Was he ever going to shut up about Bruno? "I'm sure he's fine," she said coldly. Yusei didn't seem to notice her annoyance.

"I do hope so," he said. They reached their D-Wheels and Aki unlocked hers.

"I'm going straight home from here," she said. "Say hi to the guys from me."

Yusei nodded. "All right. See you tomorrow, Aki."

"Yeah," Aki said. Tomorrow she'd have to withdraw from the WRGP. Tomorrow she'd leave Japan.

 **oOoOo**

At ten past midnight, Yusei was still awake.

That wasn't particularly unusual. He'd never needed much sleep and could easily work until two or three at night. What was unusual was that he'd abandoned his computer for the evening. It was still running, but the search program didn't need him staring at the screen at all times. Right now he had something far more interesting in front of him.

Almost reverently, he spread the two files out on the table. His parents had written those. This was the first time he was seeing their actual work up close, not just fragments of it in whatever book he managed to find. Yugi-san and Judai-san had met them, actually known them and talked to them. He was so very tempted to call Yugi-san this very instant and ask him to tell him about his parents, and at the same time he was insanely jealous. They'd talked to his parents. Maybe if Bruno— But no. Bruno was gone and his parents were dead and Yusei couldn't talk to them. He never could.

He closed his eyes against the sudden sting of tears and picked one of the files at random. Fudou Keiko. His mother. The first page bore the old logo of Domino University, long before it had been rebuilt and become Neo Domino University. Another stab of jealousy, this time towards all the people who had no trouble going to university, who had gone to high school and had a diploma and could study whatever they wanted. Zero Reverse had taken that from him too. If it hadn't been for Zero Reverse, would he have gone the way of his parents? Would he be studying at NDU right now? Undoubtedly.

He shook his head. It was stupid to think that way. He wouldn't have known Jack and Crow if not for Zero Reverse, and Aki and Ruka and Rua and everyone else. They were his family too, and he wasn't prepared to give them up. He flipped the page and started to read, amazement mounting with every page he turned. Why Fudou Keiko wasn't as famous as her husband was beyond him, because her work was brilliant. Every page spoke of her love for physics, and she juggled the numbers with the practiced ease of someone who lived for her job. Some of the formulae and theories she used were ones even Yusei had never seen before. By the time he'd reached the halfway point, he felt like he'd learned more in the past hour than in the last several years. Already he was having new ideas, new things to try out, and he hadn't even made it to the end of the file yet.

At two, he finally reached the final page. It was empty, and Yusei frowned, feeling an unexpected sense of bereavement. There should be something more on the page, shouldn't there? More of his mother's work, more for him to learn. He turned the page. There was a note, but unlike the previous, carefully typed-out pages, this one was handwritten. Yusei bent closer.

 _My dear Yusei,_

 _If you're reading this, then Mutou-san and Yuki-san have given you our work. I hope that this way, your father and I can still help you just a little bit, even though we can't be with you._

 _When your father first told me about you, I admit that I was skeptical. Our son, traveling through time? And far, far worse: our son, growing up without us? It didn't bear thinking about. It still doesn't. As I'm writing this, you've just gone to sleep, and even looking at you now, I can't bear the idea that you'll have to grow up all by yourself. Mutou-san tells us that's going to be the case. If you're reading this, his words have probably come to pass._

 _So I want to say sorry. Sorry, Yusei, that we couldn't be there to see you grow up. Sorry, Yusei, that we were never there when you were sick, or hurt, or in trouble. Sorry, Yusei, that we couldn't be your parents. All I can hope for is that you have good friends, and that you're happy. Yuki-san tells us you're a great young man, and I believe it._

 _If I only get to ask one thing of you as your mother, Yusei, it's this: Be happy. Do what makes you happy. Be with the people who make you happy. That's all I want you to do for me, and that's all I want for you._

 _I love you._

 _Your mother,_

 _Fudou Keiko_

Yusei slowly closed the file, vision blurry. His mother had written this. She'd thought of him and she'd loved him. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. It was almost half past two. They'd have to train for the WRGP tomorrow, but... He glanced at the other file, the one with 'Fudou Hatori' written on the cover. Could he handle whatever his father had to say?

 _Do what makes you happy_ , his mother had said.

Mind made up, Yusei pulled the file towards him and opened it.

* * *

 **Next chapter:** A turn is ended.


	9. VIII - Winning and Losing

**VIII. Winning and Losing**

On Thursday, Crow broke his arm during what should have been a routine training session.

It was almost evening by the time the hospital released him, complete with a cast on his arm and a stern admonition to not do anything strenuous until it came off. Apparently, that explicitly included dueling. What kind of bullshit was that? He'd been dueling his entire life, and now suddenly he shouldn't be able to do so because his bones didn't have the decency to stay in one place? He kicked the wall angrily. They hadn't even allowed him to take his D-Wheel home, so now he had to wait until someone saw fit to pick him up. He was this close to just taking the subway home, crawl in bed and stay there until the stupid cast fell off by itself.

"Crow!"

Looked like the welcome committee had arrived. Just Aki, apparently, because Yusei was probably watching CCTV footage again and Jack... Well, who knew where Jack was at any given time? Crow sure as hell didn't.

Aki reached him, looking like she'd run all the way to the hospital. "How are you feeling?" she asked, eyes wide and concerned. Crow didn't want concern.

"Fine."

"Dad lent me a car, so we don't have to take the subway," she said, still out of breath. "It's so busy right now, and we didn't want you to hurt your arm."

"A bit late for that, isn't it?" Crow said. He'd gotten through worse injuries just fine in the past. He didn't need pampering.

"Crow?"

"Whatever, let's go." He turned his back to her and walked in the direction of the parking lot, where Aki's big fancy car probably was. She probably had a driver and everything. As if daddy would ever allow his little girl to drive alone. Never mind that Aki had been fine on her own. Well, not fine, but— And now Crow didn't even know where he'd been going with that. Stupid arm.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Aki asked from somewhere to his left. Crow didn't reply, and they walked in awkward silence to the car Aki's father had sent. It was some hyper-modern thing that had probably cost more money than Crow'd seen in his entire life, and like he'd predicted, it came with a driver.

"Milady," the woman said blandly. "Sir."

Crow wondered what it'd take to get her to have a facial expression. He ignored her greeting and opened the door to the backseat before anyone could do it for him. Aki got in soon after. She was still giving directions when the car took off, smoothly navigating the parking lot and getting on the highway that would get them back to Neo Domino. Crow slumped in the leather upholstery. Why did they need all this, anyway? Wouldn't the car drive without cupholders and heated seats?

"Don't worry about the WRGP," Aki said. "I'll stay in Neo Domino for a bit longer, until you're better. I mean, Judai-san has been gone for so many years..."

Oh, of course. Just that morning before training, Aki had announced that she would be withdrawing as their backbencher to go save the world or something. And now she would be taking his place in the tournament instead, because that was the sensible and logical thing to do. Now his broken arm was even messing up the world. What good was Crow? Only a nuisance people reluctantly put up with.

"Yeah, sure, good luck with that."

"What's wrong?"

"Will you stop asking that?" Crow snapped. "My arm's broken, that's what's wrong. Or maybe you hadn't noticed? You're sure eager enough to take my place."

Aki stared at him in stunned silence. Crow looked away, ignoring the feeling of discomfort settling in his stomach.

"What is wrong with you?" she burst out.

"I already told you—"

"I'm trying to help, okay? No one is trying to take your place, but your arm is broken. Or maybe you're the one who hasn't noticed? Everyone's worried about you and we want you to be okay!" She ran a shaking hand through her hair. "For heaven's sake, what's gotten into you guys? Yusei is practically chained to his computer and now you?"

"I— Aki..."

"No, never mind, I get it. I'm not as good a duelist as you guys are so why would you trust me anyway, huh? Isn't that it?"

"No!" Crow shook his head. Wow, he'd fucked that one up pretty badly, hadn't he? "Look, I'm sorry. You're right, I'm angry and I'm taking it out on you. This tournament is so important, and now I'm out before it's even started."

Aki"s look softened. "Because of Satellite?"

"Yeah." He gave her a hesitant smile. "For what it's worth, I think you're a pretty great duelist. I mean, you're really smart and talented and pretty. I'm sure you'll be amazing."

Aki blushed slightly, but she smiled back. "Thanks."

"Yeah." Crow looked outside, his own cheeks turning red.

"Crow?" Aki asked, just as they were leaving the highway and entering Neo Domino proper. "You're kind of right, though. I can do ground duels fine, and I can ride my D-Wheel pretty well now, but the WRGP is so different... Will you help me practice?"

"Do you even need to ask? 'Course I will."

Aki nodded seriously. "It's the maneuvers, and all the other teams have been having riding duels for so long and—"

"Hey, lighten up! We're gonna be the best team, alright?" He held out a hand. "Shake on it?"

She grinned and high-fived him instead. He laughed in surprise. "That's more like it!"

"Saturday morning at nine," Aki told him. "You'd better be there, you hear me?"

Yeah, it still sucked that he wouldn't be dueling himself, but who better than Aki to replace him? "Wouldn't miss it for the world," he said. "I won't be holding back, though!"

"I'm counting on it," said Aki. Her smile was bright enough to light up the entire car.

 **oOoOo**

"And? Antinomy?"

"I think we should be good by next week, if Sherry can get those parts we need," he said. "Anyway, I'll have to take apart Delta Eagle to copy the time travel mechanism, unless you have still have the plans somewhere?" he asked. Paradox shook his head. That was a pity. He still remembered the general principle of the system, but he worked better with a plan in front of him. Z-one was better at this on-the-fly stuff.

"I think that's about all we can do for today," he said. "Until Sherry gets back, at least."

Paradox nodded. "Drink?"

"Sure."

He quickly wiped most of the grease off his hands, and they moved back upstairs together in comfortable silence. They didn't speak until they'd both sat down with their drinks — on the floor, because Sherry quite probably wouldn't appreciate grease stains on her couch.

"Don't you ever find it weird?" Paradox asked.

"What?"

"Calling her Sherry."

He thought about it. "Mmm, not really. It's like Yusei, you know? They're different people so they have different names. I mean, would you be able compare her and Chiasma?"

Paradox snorted briefly. "No, they're not the same at all." The front door slammed, and he grinned. "And there you have her."

Sherry entered the room moments later, hair windswept. "You'll have your parts on Friday," she said, nodding in his direction. She took out a couple of booster packs and tossed them at Paradox. Paradox raised an eyebrow at her.

"Am I supposed to make a deck out of random boosters now?"

"Don't be stupid, just find something that works for you and build your deck around that. I'm going to shower." She looked them over. "You two better do the same."

They grinned at each other when she'd disappeared. "Nope, definitely not the same," said Paradox.

"C'mon, open up!" he said, scooting over. Opening booster packs was always fun. Paradox obliged and opened the first booster pack. Nothing spectacular. A few common monsters and a rare magic card that would probably be useful in several decks he could think of, but none that would fit Paradox. The second pack was much the same. The third, however, was more promising.

"Tiger King of the Ice Barrier, Dewloren," Paradox read, studying the Synchro monster. "Looks good enough."

"It's pretty rare. You got lucky with that pack." He remembered Ice Barrier far too well. They had been terrible to go up against, even with his deck. He could hardly get enough Synchro material if they kept removing his monsters from the field. "Why not try those? You could make life very hard for your opponents with them." He remembered the Ice Barrier monsters very well. Hikari had been vicious with them.

They opened the rest of the packs in silence, finding a couple more related cards and some that might be useful in Sherry's deck. No such luck for him. The Tech Genus monsters were years away from even being designed, and even then he'd been one of the only people to play them at a professional level.

"Found anything?" Sherry said. She reappeared in the doorway, clad only in a tank top and pyjama shorts, and toweling her hair dry. Paradox's gaze lingered a bit longer than was truly necessary.

"Yeah," he said after a few seconds. "Ice Barrier. Heard of them?"

Sherry nodded and sat down on the sofa. Paradox handed her the Dewloren card and she studied it. "Not bad," she said. "I guess you'll be looking to build a full deck now?"

"That's the plan."

"All right, as long as you pay for it yourselves," she said. They both nodded. "Shower's free, by the way. Just make sure you're done before Mizoguchi gets back."

"You take it," Paradox told him. He nodded, getting up.

"Where's Mizoguchi anyway?"

"Not really any of your business, is it?" Sherry said mildly, making a shooing motion with her hand. He shrugged. Sherry had her secrets, and they had theirs. That was only fair. Still, he reflected as he headed towards the bathroom, they might be making headway on the WRGP front, but he still hadn't found anything to delay the Ark Cradle, and that was becoming a bigger problem every day. Paradox had given him two weeks, and an entire week had already passed.

He undressed quickly and turned on the shower, far too hot to be really bearable. That was the problem, wasn't it? He should be able to go through with the Ark plan. If worst came to worst, he would go through with it, because that was what they always did. But for the first time he could admit to himself that he didn't actually want to.

"They've become real," he muttered with a sigh, and winced when the too-hot water hit his back. Way to go. He shouldn't have let them become real. No one in this era should mean anything to him. But Yusei did, and Team 5D's did, and the entire city did, and despite his better judgment, he didn't want anything to happen to them.

If the Ark Cradle descended, he would go along with the plan. He was sure of it. So if he really wanted to save everyone... Well, he'd have to get working, because if he wanted to save them, the Ark Cradle couldn't descend.

 **oOoOo**

Crow breaking his arm had been a setback Yusei wasn't entirely sure how to cope with yet. Sure, they'd trained with Aki, but he felt a lot more confident with Crow as their second rider. He probably should be taking the time to train more, but they still had the weekend and in the meantime his parents' notes were beckoning him. That's why he found himself at the entrance of Neo Domino's physics department on Friday afternoon. For once, his name had actually helped him out; apparently the promise of information from his Mom and Dad had overridden any distrust the receptionist felt towards him, for she had called the department head the moment he'd mentioned his name.

Hayashi Chieko was, in one word, City. Everything, from her neatly-ironed lab coat, to her broad, open face, to her recent haircut screamed of someone who'd never had to live the Satellite life, who'd never had to worry about having enough money to make it through the month. She'd gone to university, obviously, had never even considered that it wouldn't be an option for her, and Yusei had to suppress a small spike of resentment. Still, she greeted Yusei with a warmth that was uncommon for someone who'd never met him before.

"Fudou Yusei, it's a pleasure." she said, shaking Yusei's hand. "I was wondering when you'd show up here."

Yusei was immediately suspicious. "What do you mean?"

"You're like your parents. It was only a matter of time before you'd show up in one of the labs," Hayashi-san said. "But all right, you wanted to know about Momentum? I'm sure I don't need to explain the basics to you."

"No need, Hayashi-san."

"I'm not allowed to show you the main reactor, which is a pity." Hayashi-san slid a key card through a card reader and the door slid open, revealing a room packed with computers, but with only a few people milling around. A woman, who was flipping through a large stack of papers and sipping tiredly from her coffee, gave Yusei a quick once-over and a brief nod. Yusei nodded back.

"This is one of the secondary control rooms," Hayashi-san explained. "We've got a couple across the city, in case something goes wrong with the main controls."

Take that, Paradox.

"Anyway, is there anything you need to know specifically, Yusei-kun?"

"Yes." Yusei stopped walking and Hayashi-san followed his example. "My parents left me notes on the workings of the Momentum reactor before Zero Reverse. I've been told that Momentum's energy output hasn't changed since then. Do you think it's going to remain that way, Hayashi-san?"

"Your parents did…?" Hayashi-san gave him a pained smile. "I would have loved to see that. And you're completely right, Momentum never changed much after Zero Reverse. But here's the intriguing part: the energy output started going up rapidly about a year and a half ago, and it has continued to do so to this day."

Yusei narrowed his eyes. That was when Satellite and the City had been reunited. "Isn't that normal? Doesn't Momentum keep up with the demands of the city?" he asked.

"I know what you're thinking, but the output of the reactor has increased exponentially. We can hardly keep track of it. Forget rebuilding Satellite, we could rebuild the entire city with the energy output the reactor is giving us. You know, I'm actually working on a paper on the subject, but the data are—"

"What do you do with the superfluous energy?" Yusei interrupted.

Hayashi-san looked thoughtful. "Nothing, really. We have no way to store it, so it just dissipates. Anyway, it's not like Momentum'll stop generating energy, so maybe it doesn't really matter."

But judging by her frown, she didn't believe it herself. She shook her head and led Yusei to an abandoned desk with an idling computer. Someone had left their lunch next to the keyboard. Hayashi-san pushed the box aside and offered Yusei the chair.

"That's what you get here," she said. "People forget to eat until it's four in the afternoon, and then they realize they're not hungry anymore."

Yusei could sympathize. He restarted the computer and stared for a few seconds, uncomprehendingly, at the data that had been left on the screen. Then he nodded. The Momentum engine, divided into its different gear sets, each with their respective input or output listed. It was easy once you got the meaning if each data series, and he told Hayashi-san as much. She nodded approvingly.

"I figured you would get it. Have you ever considered going into science?"

Of course Yusei had, but reality was always quick to dash any hopes he had.

"I never went to school. I can't enter university."

"That can't be right," said Hayashi-san. Yusei shrugged. Short of starting with the junior high kids, there was very little he could do about it.

"I'm doing something I love. It's good enough," he said. He didn't even have to lie; he really did love being a mechanic. If it was the only thing he got to do for the rest of his life, he'd be perfectly fine with that.

Hayashi-san wasn't convinced. "You have all the knowledge. If the only thing that's stopping you is a piece of paper, then something's wrong with the system."

Still City, Yusei thought, rubbing his face absently. Hayashi-san meant well, but a piece of paper was far from the only thing stopping him. "It's not going to happen," he said.

"No, hear me out," Hayashi-san said, eyes bright. "You could do it. Take the state exams. You'd need to catch up on a lot of subjects, but I'm sure you can manage. I know a lot of people in NDU. I'm sure I could get some people to talk to you. Many people here remember your parents."

"I'm not using my parents' name to get something I didn't earn."

Hayashi-san shook her head and sighed. "That's not what I meant, Yusei-kun. I knew your parents when I was a university student. Your mother was my thesis advisor and she was always so proud of you. They wanted you to have this. Think about it."

Yusei had come here to take his mind off things, not to get reminded once more that other people had known his parents far better than he ever had. He gritted his teeth and looked back at the screen. "When you say an exponential power increase, how big are we talking?"

Hayashi-san didn't reply. Instead she pulled up a new set of data and presented them to Yusei. Yusei looked them over, frown deepening. That… didn't match what his parents had written. But on the other hand, he didn't see any reason to be concerned either. The energy was dissipating harmlessly.

… To where?

"When Momentum dissipates, what does it turn into? Heat?"

Hayashi-san snorted. "Well, you hit our sore spot. We don't know. If it turns into anything, it's not something we can register."

"But Conservation of Energy laws—"

"Exactly. There is a lot about Momentum we don't know, Yusei-kun, and you've dug right into one of its biggest mysteries. Even your parents were never able to figure that one out. Momentum has a massive energy output, far more than we can use or store. But we don't know what happens to the energy we don't use. As I said, it doesn't turn into anything we can register. For all intents and purposes, it ceases to exist the moment it isn't put to use."

Yusei didn't like that in the slightest. None of his books had ever mentioned that tidbit. Was it something MIDDS didn't want the larger public to know?

"Hayashi-san, do you think I could have your data for my research?" It was a long shot, but he needed to find out more.

Hayashi-san visibly hesitated. "I'm not supposed to give out our research, Yusei-kun, I'm sorry. But if you give me your e-mail address, I can keep you updated if we find anything new."

Yusei's face fell, but he didn't press. He shouldn't have expected it. Hayashi-san did allow him use of the dataset for another hour and guided him out of the building with a wave and a request to let her know if he ever needed any help. Yusei sighed as he took the subway home. This visit had raised more questions than answers and without the information that NDU had, he couldn't even do any proper research.

He glanced at his phone and saw the notification for a new e-mail. Opening it revealed a message from an unknown sender that only included a link to a file-sharing site. He was about to delete it when the file name caught his eye:

Yusei smiled, closed the e-mail and pocketed his phone again. He had some research to do tonight.

 **oOoOo**

"Ready?" Crow asked. Aki smiled.

"You bet."

It wasn't even nine in the morning yet, but Aki had woken up early and decided to go to the garage anyway. If nothing else, Yusei would've been awake. She'd arrived to find Crow awake as well, still annoyed about his broken arm but in a far better mood than two days ago, and with no reason to wait, they'd headed off for their training. Crow had insisted on taking his D-Wheel. Aki had just as vehemently refused, and Yusei had backed her up, so after a long discussion, Crow had finally agreed to ride with her on the back of her D-Wheel. Yusei had offered to come along, but they'd both declined. If she was going to take Crow's place, who better to learn from than Crow himself?

The racetrack they were using wasn't an official WRGP one, but one Crow knew from when he was a kid. They'd gone all the way to Satellite for it, almost getting caught up in the morning rush hour, but they'd made good time and Crow'd said that avoiding cars was pretty good practice, especially with a passenger. After the second close call with an ill-tempered driver shouting about women D-Wheelers, she'd been inclined to agree.

"You should've set Black Rose Dragon on him," Crow had grumbled from behind her, arm tightening around her waist. "Really given him something to complain about."

Aki had been very very tempted, but using her deck in the middle of traffic with Crow sitting right behind her wasn't something she felt qualified to do yet. "Next time," she'd said.

"I want to see it," Crow had said, and she hadn't needed to see his face to know he was grinning.

Once they'd crossed the Daedalus bridge, traffic had practically disappeared. Satellite wasn't quite the desolate place she remembered it as, but in comparison to the city, it still looked old and sad. As if it could still crumble at any minute and someone had just painted over the walls to hide the cracks. Crow had seemed perfectly at ease, though, and after just a few minutes of navigating small streets, they'd reached Crow's racetrack. It was a far cry from the WRGP tracks or even the one she'd learned to ride her D-Wheel on, but it was in remarkably good condition.

"Usually it was only Security who practiced here," Crow had explained. "We weren't really allowed to have D-Wheels so we weren't going to flaunt them." He'd given her a wry smile. "Anyway, perfect place."

They started off very slowly, with Aki just doing a few rounds around the track to become familiar with it. Apart from a few small bumps here and there, it provided no real challenge, and pretty soon she stopped next to Crow again.

"What next?"

"Hold on, thinking." Crow studied the track. "We need obstacles for you... Hey, do you think your monsters could attack you?"

Come again? Aki wanted to laugh, but Crow looked completely serious. Have her own monsters attack her? Would they even do that?

"Just do your psychic thing," Crow said, making a vague wave motion that was clearly supposed to represent her 'psychic thing'. "They won't really hurt you, will they? So it's safe and you get to practice."

The more she thought about it, the more the idea started to grow on her. Dueling practice and psychic training all at once. She checked if her deck was firmly in place and eyed the terrain. Crow should be far enough from the track to be safe if something went wrong.

"Let's do it," she decided, fishing Black Rose Dragon out of her extra deck. Crow looked taken aback.

"You're going for her?" he asked, eyeing the card warily. "Isn't that a bit too much?"

Oh, so now he was against it? Aki tightened her grip on the card. "It'll be fine," she said, and before he could reply, she summoned the monster. Black Rose Dragon arose in front of them, flapping her wings and sending up a dust cloud across the track. Aki lowered the vizor of her helmet.

"You heard?" she asked the dragon. Instead of a reply, the dragon reared back and— Whoa! She barely dodged the first vine and kicked her D-Wheel in action, leaving Crow behind as she raced to get past the dragon. Its bulk made it slow in turning around, and she managed to get a good headstart before a second vine hit the ground right in front of her, sending up a dust cloud that severely limited her vision. But she could do that; she'd done it before. Feel the terrain, focus on the slope of the track, left, right, le— dodge!

She sighed a breath of relief as Black Rose Dragon's attack missed her by inches. Wow, too close. The dragon wasn't attacking her directly, she'd already noticed, but trying to take out her D-Wheel. She wasn't about to let it. She gave Crow thumbs-up when she passed him, then immediately swerved to the very edge of the track when her dragon conjured up a leaf storm clearly meant to clog her wheels. Close call. The dragon was right next to her, trying to drive her into what passed for the stands, but she could duck, speed up, slide under— And she was through, zigzagging through the web the dragon had woven. She circled back and slowed down when she neared Crow.

"Black Feather Dragon," she shouted. Crow looked hesitant, but took out the card anyway. Seconds later, the second Signer dragon took flight, shooting up in the sky and all but disappearing from view. Aki looked after it warily, at least until Black Rose Dragon made her presence known again and- Oh damn.

Aki swore and turned one-eighty degrees, speeding back in the direction she came from. In the short time that she'd been looking after Black Feather Dragon, her own dragon had torn up part of the track and was now using her vines to toss rocks and clumps at her.

"Aki, this isn't safe!" Crow's voice shouted over the com link. Aki wiped the dust from her vizor and shook her head, even though Crow couldn't see her. She was going to do this. A rock hit the edge of her helmet, and Crow shouted her name, but apart from a quick burst of pain, she was fine. She blinked quickly to get rid of the spots and carefully made her way through the dust clouds. Now where was Black Feather Dragon...

There! Aki glanced up and hit the brakes, right when Crow's dragon came swooping down. It had hovered over her, staying just out of sight and tracking her like it would track its prey. The dragon pulled up at the very last second and nearly collided with Black Rose Dragon, who let out an indignant cry. Aki had to smile. Of course, now that Black Feather Dragon had reappeared, she had bigger things to worry about.

The com link on her D-Wheel crackled to life again. "Aki, cut it out, this is too dangerous!" said Crow, and this time he really sounded angry. Aki turned around and doubled back to where Crow was standing, avoiding the part of the track that Black Rose Dragon had torn up. Maybe he was right... Keeping both dragons solid while focusing on avoiding them was starting to take its toll, but, she realized, she was having fun! When was the last time she'd done something like this? Heck, when had she ever done anything like this?

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"Aki, stop," Crow said, a pleading note in his voice. He was really that worried about her? Aki cast a regretful look at both dragons, who were now charging at her in tandem, and stopped using her powers. They disappeared just meters away from her. She halted her D-Wheel. Crow vaulted the railing around the track with some effort and ran towards her.

"We're not doing that again," he said, out of breath and eyes wild. Aki got off her D-Wheel and removed her helmet.

"I was fine. They wouldn't have hurt me," she said. She knew her own dragon well enough, and she trusted Crow's fully.

"Do you have any idea what it looked like? I thought you were going to die!" Crow said, the hand that wasn't in a cast clenched. "Let me see your head."

Head? Oh, yeah, she'd been hit there, hadn't she? "Crow, it's all fine," she said. "Really, you don't have to worry about me."

"Yeah, well I do," Crow snapped.

"You were really that worried?" Aki asked.. His gray eyes caught hers.

"Of course I was," he said softly. She was staring, Aki realized. She quickly turned her head to the side.

"See? All fine," she said, and even to her, her words sounded forced. She touched the back of her head . A bit sore, but nothing bad. Her helmet had done its work perfectly well.

Crow reached out and carefully found the sore spot with his good hand. He sighed.

"You sure you're fine? No headaches, no spots in your vision, anything like that?"

"Nothing," she said. Crow was still touching her head, playing absently with a strand of hair.

"If you're sure.. Ah!" He pulled his hand back abruptly and turned away. Aki squashed the strange feeling of disappointment that hit her. "Well, you did quite a number on the track," Crow said, voice rushed.

Wow, he was right. Aki surveyed the damage. Part of the track was completely torn up, rendering it nearly unusable. The dust had settled, and she could see where the two dragons' attacks had hit the ground and even part of the surrounding area. Crow hadn't been as safe as she'd hoped. The thought caused a flash of hindsight panic. What if he'd gotten hit? With his broken arm, he wouldn't have been able to shield himself. She took a deep breath and suddenly realized why Crow'd been so afraid. No, Black Feather Dragon wouldn't hurt him, and neither would Black Rose Dragon. Even if they got too close, she could've stopped them before they did. Crow was fine. It was all fine.

"Maybe we'd better find something safer next time," she conceded. Crow nodded and suddenly smiled.

"You were pretty awesome out there, though. That was some really good driving."

"It was fun," she admitted. She'd had so much fun, even though, looking backwards, she'd been in over her head. But she'd managed and she hadn't even lost control once. If she could take on two dragons, she would have no problem with the WRGP. She could take Crow's place now. She'd been right in asking him for help; this morning had really paid off.

"Oh man, just look at your D-Wheel," Crow said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Aki winced. The damage to the paint job alone was bad enough, but that was the least of her problems. Her D-Wheel had clearly suffered more damage than she herself had; there were leaves caught between the wheels and the right side had a distinctly dented look. The dragons might not have been aiming for her, but they had been aiming for her D-Wheel.

"Yusei's going to throw a fit," she muttered. If all this had to be fixed before next Tuesday... Well, maybe he'd be doing something that wasn't sitting in front of a computer looking for Bruno. Crow gave her a long look, and suddenly she couldn't hold back her laughter. "You can tell him."

"Hey, that's no fair! It's your D-Wheel!" But he laughed as well. "If we tell him together, how fast can you run?"

"You go left, I'll go right. He can't chase us both."

 **oOoOo**

Day two, he thought as he made his way into the stands. Team 5D's and Team Unicorn would be dueling in one of the first matches of the day, right after the first two teams of their block dueled. He wondered if he should stick around for Team New World's match in the afternoon. Maybe. He still had plenty of time to decide. It was only nine in the morning, and the stands were relatively empty. The first rounds just didn't garner as much attention, especially if there weren't any stand-out teams yet. He noticed a decently-sized group of Jack's fans and steered clear of them. He wanted to watch without being interrupted.

Paradox and Sherry had declined to come to the stadium. He wondered what they got up to, all day long. Yesterday, during their own first round, he had been looking forward to dueling. But Sherry had defeated all of their opponents all by herself and he had been left with nothing to do. Would any of the people here be up for a duel? After yesterday's disappointing match, he was practically itching for one. He reached for his deck, attached to the belt loops of his jeans, then changed his mind and took off his sunglasses. They served as a decent replacement for his vizor and managed to hide his eyes from view, but it was overcast and he couldn't see enough of the stadium down below.

The first match was, no pun intended, a catastrophe. The German team practically slaughtered their opponents, and he wasn't even sure if they'd ever be able to get their D-Wheels — or themselves — back in working order for their upcoming matches against Team 5D's and Team Unicorn. Their second rider in particular looked like he was in pretty bad shape. He frowned. What had Team Catastrophe done to their opponents? The entire match had barely taken half an hour.

Team 5D's match was only scheduled for eleven 'o clock, so he spent a quiet hour wandering the stands, picking up a drink as he went along. Once he'd hit a modicum of fame in his pro dueling career, he hadn't been able to do this anymore. Dueling was great, but getting recognized when you were queuing up to get a snack or trying to pay for your groceries? Not so much.

At ten to eleven, the screens around the stadium flickered to life again, and he found a place where he could watch freely, high up in the stadium. Since most of the duel would be taking place outside anyway, it was no use to brave the throngs of people right next to the ring. Of course, he could have used Team Chevalier's private room, but he liked the view he got here.

Team Unicorn's members were introduced first, and he paid only mild attention to them. Spanish team, champions in the Atlantis tournament and the Iberian tournament ... All pretty impressive. He wondered how they'd do against Team 5D's.

The introduction of Team 5D's brought a surprise with it. Crow had broken his arm? He worriedly stared at Aki's profile on the screen. He'd seen Aki duel before, but never in a tournament. The Aki from his future had been a very accomplished D-Wheeler, but wasn't this one mostly a ground duelist? That might not bode well for the team. Still, he should have faith in her. She was a good duelist, after all. And even if she didn't win, Yusei would, right?

He shouldn't have had worried, he thought, half an hour later when the duel was in full swing. Yeah, Jack had lost already, and Aki looked like she wouldn't last many turns either, but she was doing amazing. Clearly she had trained before the game, because she had far more control over her D-Wheel than she'd had before. She didn't quite match up to the more experienced D-Wheelers like Jack or Yusei, but she was probably better than at least eighty percent of the people in the tournament. Where had she learned to drive like that, he pondered as she made a particularly impressive swerve, and the audience oohed and aahed around him. She did end up losing, like he'd predicted, but she'd put Yusei in a very good spot. If he had any money on him right now, he would bet it on Team 5D's.

Ten minutes later, Yusei lost, and Team Unicorn won their first match.

... Huh, he thought, making his way down the stands to find a spot for lunch. By decking out, of all things. How would the team be holding up? Yusei had looked terribly distracted throughout the entire duel, although he couldn't fathom why. Maybe he should go pay them a visit. He slid his sunglasses back on. As Timothy Kant, they wouldn't recognize him, right? And maybe they needed a pep talk or something. Get them inspired again for the other duels. They could still move on to the next round if they won the other two duels in their block and Team Unicorn lost one. They had to go to the next round, so if he just talked to them...

Don't be stupid, a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Paradox's said, and he sighed. Yeah, he shouldn't be purposely trying to blow his cover. But if he was honest with himself, he missed the team, and he missed living with them, and he missed working with Yusei until two in the morning, when everyone had already gone to sleep and Crow came complaining about the lights and how they were running up the electricity bill. He dropped his head on his arms and groaned. Sherry was fun in her own way when you got to know her, and he was really glad to have Paradox back as his friend, but now he really missed the days where he didn't remember anything. Life had been so much easier back then.

But that was the kind of life he just wasn't meant to have. He shrugged, finding a nearby ramen stand and joining the queue. People all around him were still talking about the last match.

"It's kind of embarrassing, don't you think?" A woman his age was saying to another woman whose hand she was holding. Probably her girlfriend. "Losing by decking out?"

"Eh, I think they did pretty well, considering."

"Considering what?" the first woman asked. The queue moved forward.

"Well, they're Satellite, aren't they? Not like they would have good stuff," her girlfriend said.

The Signer dragons weren't good stuff? Where had this woman learned to duel?

"Yeah, but didn't the one guy win that Fortune thing last year? What's his name..."

"Fudou Yusei," he provided. The woman turned around and smiled gratefully.

"That's the one! So yeah, I thought they were gonna win for sure," she said, turning back to her girlfriend once more. The other woman shrugged.

"I dunno, I always thought that was kind of fishy. Seemed like some big publicity stunt. I mean, Jack Atlas and that Fudou guy? They were friends, weren't they? And now the Izayoi woman is on their team too, so isn't that a bit too much coincidence?"

No, no it isn't. You just can't duel worth crap.

"I guess..." the first woman said hesitantly. She sighed. "Well, I guess they just didn't have what it takes." She cheered up. "They'd just waste the prize money anyway, their kind."

Oh, shut up, he thought. Did they really think Yusei and Jack had been involved in some kind of massive conspiracy just because they were friends? And what did that have to do with them wasting the prize money anyway? Yeah, Jack could be a bit wasteful, but why would these people know that? And either way, if they won, Crow would take care of the money. Assuming they managed to beat him and Sherry and Mizoguchi, of course. He grinned. Yeah, that might still get interesting.

Luckily, the queue moved forward again, and the couple shut up about the tournament and started discussing their food choices instead. Five minutes later, they were and he had reached the front of the line.

"What can I get for yo— Oh, hey!"

He looked up and almost jumped, eyes widening behind his sunglasses. The girl from the café next door. Fuck. Had she recognized him? He shouldn't have come here, he should've listened to Paradox, if she went to Team 5D's they'd find him right away—

"You're Timothy Kant from Chevalier, right?"

He swallowed and finally looked up. The girl —Stephanie? He'd never gone to that café as much as Jack had— was smiling widely, but there was no real hint of recognition in her eyes.

"Yes," he said slowly, lowering his voice as much as he could with it still sounding natural.

"Thought so. I almost didn't recognize you without the vizor! What can I get you?"

"… Do you have ramen?"

"Sure do! We only have chicken left, though, is that okay?"

He nodded and watched with more than a little trepidation as she set about preparing his cup. She didn't appear to have recognized him as Bruno. He just had to act as natural as possible.

"So, how's the tournament going for you?" Stephanie asked as she grabbed the kettle. He winced. She actually expected him to make small talk?

"I haven't dueled yet."

"Too bad. I'm sure your fans want to see you in action!"

He shrugged. "Haven't got too many of those." Not in this period of time, at least. Stephanie finished pouring water and handed him his cup with a frown.

"Really? No one cheering for you?"

Her look was far too probing for his liking. He found himself falling back on the answer he'd always given decades ago when he'd still been a pro duelist: "My parents and my sister Erika. Erika's very excited about me being here."

He resolutely ignored the stab of pain that brought. Erika was alive, even if she was only a newborn baby. He'd see to it that she wouldn't die again, one way or another.

Stephanie smiled and handed him his chopsticks in exchange for the money he'd held at the ready. "I'm sure they're proud of you! Well, good luck and enjoy!"

He thanked her and quickly moved towards the exit. That had been far too close for his liking. This girl hadn't recognized him, but what if he ran into a member of 5D's? Would his luck hold? No, he'd have to stay in Tops until their matches came along. This had been a good wake-up call. He had wanted to see New World's match, but he'd find out how it'd gone tonight anyway. It wasn't like they would lose. If they did, they'd just make it so they hadn't. The part of him that was still a Pro Duelist balked at the idea. The other part, the one that had survived years and years of horror, didn't see the problem. They had a plan. That plan involved staying in the WRGP. They'd be stupid to let a single loss stop them.

He didn't look back at Stephanie. He didn't see her take out her phone.

"Hey Carly? You'll never guess who I just talked to."

* * *

 **Next chapter:** A terrible evil finally meets its demise.

Also people argue or something idek


	10. IX - Mensonges

**IX. Mensonges**

"And we seriously have to do this?" Plácido asked. José, sitting in front of the big TV in their private lounge, nodded without looking at him.

"Yes. Every team has a scheduled interview. We get it over with and the press won't bother us again."

"We don't need to talk to them for that," Plácido replied. After all, there were so many better ways to scare them off.

"Don't be stupid. Do you want us disqualified?"

And so what if they were? It wasn't like they couldn't just change that again. He sighed. Better get it over with, or José was going to spend the next week complaining about it. "Alright, fine. Who's it this time?"

"Carly Nagisa, Neo Domino News," José read from his palmtop. "Do be careful around her. She's been hanging out with Team 5D's a lot."

"Oh, you mean Jack Atlas' girlfriend?" Plácido remembered her very vaguely. So she was a reporter too? Annoying woman. He glanced at Lucciano, who'd settled cross-legged on the floor and was sorting through his deck. The kid had been unusually quiet ever since the tournament had started, and he refused to tell them why. Not that either of them had asked. Plácido, for his part, was just glad for the silence.

There was a knock on the door, and one of the WRGP stewards entered. "Sirs? Miss Nagisa is here to see you."

"Excellent, let her in," José said. The man nodded and disappeared. Just a few minutes later, he returned with Nagisa in tow. Only she wasn't alone.

 _Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me,_ he thought as the reddish-brown-haired woman entered behind her. _What's next, did you find Ayumi too?_

"Carly Nagisa, from Neo Domino News," Nagisa introduced herself brightly. "This is Stephanie, a friend. I hope you don't mind her coming along? She was just dying to meet you!"

Plácido gritted his teeth. Yes, dying was most certainly a thing she was going to do. He glanced, speechless, at Lucciano, who was staring in shock. They all were. José was the first to speak.

"Yes, actually we do mind, miss Nagisa. We would much appreciate it if your friend were to leave. Right now."

Both women looked taken aback. "I promise she won't interrupt the proceedings," Nagisa said. "And nothing that you don't want to leave this room will leave this room, right, Stephanie?"

"Of course!" she said, and oh, Plácido knew that tone. It was the same tone she'd always used to reassure them that everything was alright, that they were going to be fine, that the Machine Emperors wouldn't get to them.

Why, of all people, had Carly Nagisa brought his mother here?

"Lucciano-kun, right?" she said. Lucciano looked like he was going to bolt any second now, and Plácido couldn't even find it in himself to blame him. "You ran away so quickly last week. Are you sure you're okay?"

The kid barely managed a nod. He'd run into her before? No wonder he'd been practically catatonic for most of the week. This was really really bad, and he was going to give them away if this went on.

"Look, Nagisa, we agreed to an interview with one person, and one person only. Your friend can wait outside," he said. Mom... She looked so much younger than he remembered. He'd known she lived here. Of course he had, but he'd always resisted the temptation to go look for his parents. Just like Ayumi. Ayumi, who wasn't even born yet and was going to die in twenty years, right before his eyes, with nothing he could do— Like when mom and dad—

 _We're doing this to save them_ , he reminded himself. And to do that, mom had to get out, or he wouldn't be held responsible for his actions. He glared at Nagisa. What right did she think she had to bring her here? What right did she even think she had to talk to his mom, to be friends with her?

"Miss Stephanie, we would much appreciate it if you left now," José said. Mom and the reporter woman exchanged looks. "Now, please, or we'll be forced to cancel the interview. Miss Nagisa, I'm sure you understand."

Clearly she didn't, if her furrowed eyebrows were any indication. Good. Served her right.

"Please give us a second," she said, and both she and mom left the room in a huff. The three of them looked at each other. Plácido saw the same silent horror he felt reflected in the other two's eyes.

"She'sgonnadie she'sgonnadie she'sgonna—" the kid muttered. He was freaking out . If mom noticed, or worse, if the reporter noticed, they were going to be in big trouble, and he couldn't let it happen.

"Snap out of it," he growled. "She's just one person. 'Course she's gonna die, so shut up and pull yourself together."

But Lucciano only covered his ears, still muttering, still getting worse and worse and any minute now, mom would return and in the afternoon they had a match and they couldn't win if the kid couldn't play and if they didn't win they couldn't save mom and dad and Ayumi and he had to do something about it and—

Plácido did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed the kid by the collar and slapped him.

"Hey!" Lucciano immediately punched back. Plácido dropped him and cradled his face. Bastard little asshole.

"Back with us?" José asked. Lucciano glared at the two of them, but his green eyes were clear now, not clouded by fear and horror like they had been before. "Good. They're going to return very soon and we're going to at least act like we've got the situation under control. Is that understood?"

They both nodded. Plácido took a deep breath. Act normal. Right. Like that was ever going to happen.

Nagisa returned half a minute later, thankfully without mom. She said something about having come to an agreement with her friend, and Plácido felt the urge to hit her for it. She had no right to call their mother a friend.

"Now," she said, looking for a place to put her recorder, "I am sorry for the trouble I caused you. I promise it won't happen again."

"I would caution you against breaking the rules of your profession, Miss Nagisa," José said. "It would be a shame if you got your press pass revoked."

Nagisa blanched. Hah. Good.

"Well, I—" she swallowed and fiddled with her recorder. "I do apologize sincerely."

"Please proceed. We are busy people."

"Right." She nodded to herself and pressed play on the recorder. Immediately, her entire demeanor brightened. "It's a bit a team of extremes, isn't it? Lucciano-kun, you are the youngest registered rider in the entire World Riding Duel Grand Prix, and José-san holds the title of oldest participant. How did the team come about?"

José took the question, coming up with a story about intergenerational friendships that sounded complete bullshit to Plácido, but Nagisa seemed to eat it up. If you gave them a good sob story they just believed everything, didn't they? Except for the truth, of course. The stupid idiots in this time period wouldn't believe anything that spoke ill of their precious Momentum.

"Plácido-kun, if I don't ask this one, your fans will kill me: Is there anyone in your life right now?" Nagisa gave him what was apparently supposed to pass for a sly look. "A special someone, maybe?"

 _Ayumi_. "No."

"The fans will be delighted to hear it!" she said, and Plácido wanted to strangle her on the spot.

She blathered on all throughout lunch break, and by the time she got to her last questions ("How are you seeing your chances? What do you think of the competition?"), he was about ready to bash her head in with her own recorder. Too bad blood stains were so hard to get out of the carpet. Who put carpet in a lounge anyway? It was a mess to keep clean.

Nagisa left, but didn't close the door, and they all flinched when they heard her talk to mom. Had she spent the entire hour standing outside? She hadn't even gone to find a seat or get a drink? She really should take better care and—

Plácido cut off that train of thought abruptly. They waited for another few minutes, before José gingerly got up and glanced outside, then closed the door.

"They're gone," he announced. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I saw— I saw mom and dad last week," Lucciano said suddenly. That explained that, then. "Those twins were being annoying and there was a truck and she pulled me back and—" he took a deep breath. Plácido didn't even try to decipher what that was about. "Yeah, that— That."

"The reporter is trouble," he said. José made a tired gesture.

"She knows nothing. It's just a coincidence."

"She knows Jack Atlas, and she knows mom. That's too much," he said. If she was going to keep sticking her nose in places it didn't belong, it might just get bitten off one day. Stupid reporters. There were no people on the planet better at getting involved in things that didn't concern them. Except maybe Team 5D's. Considering she knew them anyway, it was the worst of the worst.

"Leave her be. If you let her do her job and don't draw her attention, she'll be out of our hair before you know it," José said. "She's not important."

"She brought mom here," Lucciano mumbled. "She can't bring mom here."

For once, he agreed with the kid. No matter what José said, Carly Nagisa was far too much trouble. She wouldn't give up once she thought she'd found a scoop, and nothing was more annoying than a determined reporter. Wait for the tournament to end? Just let her do her job and she'd be gone? No. Really, the solution was very simple, Plácido reflected. Incredibly simple.

All he had to do was kill Carly Nagisa.

 **oOoOo**

Plácido, once again, had disappeared to who-knew-where. José had seen too much to still be surprised by the antics of his younger selves. He didn't remember being as obnoxious as the two of them were. With the lives they led, it was honestly impossible to tell if his memory had just gone fuzzy or if their experiences had changed these versions of his younger selves. Either way, Plácido had disappeared and Lucciano had locked himself into his room after his second confrontation with their mother. Maybe it was time and distance that had made José mostly impervious to the shock of seeing her. Maybe it was because he had more important things to deal with.

He waved the holograms in front of him away until he settled on one clip, security footage from over a year ago, at the opening gala of the WRGP. It had been Antinomy's first appearance in this timeline, but that wasn't José's concern right now. No, he was far more interested in a clip of a young woman summoning a gigantic dragon. Izayoi Aki. Team 5D's current Third Wheeler.

He pulled up another file, this one hacked from a now-defunct organization. Arcadia had, at most, been a clever ruse, one they'd never been particularly interested in. But Izayoi Aki had been a core member and one of its most powerful psychics. Her skills were impressive. To summon a dragon at the age of, what the Arcadia files told him, only five… It had taken Paradox until he was far in his twenties to summon high-level monsters like that. And that, more than everything, made Izayoi Aki exceedingly dangerous.

"Idiots," he muttered as he pulled up Team 5D's team roster. None of the other members, not even Fudou Yusei, possessed the same enormous power she did. It was very likely to prove dangerous for their plans. But what could he do about it? It would be easy, of course, to just kill the woman, but messing with psychics tended to have unintended consequences on the timeline. Nothing insurmountable, of course, but he'd played clean-up crew for Plácido one too many times. Sometimes it was quite nice to have time move forward linearly.

He waved all the files away. There had to be a way to solve the problem of Izayoi Aki. Maybe a conveniently-timed accident during the tournament? After all, it had been fortunate that Crow Hogan had broken his arm. That placed Izayoi as his replacement, right in the thick of the tournament. With the special rules of the WRGP and the lack of auto-pilot… Well, it wouldn't surprise anyone if an inexperienced D-Wheeler lost her life in a tragic accident. Sad, of course. A tragedy, it'd be called, and of course her friends would mourn her terribly, but could anyone really expect otherwise in such a dangerous tournament?

… _Yes._

José sat down heavily. Yes, of course. Team 5D's would most certainly suspect foul play, as would that one reporter who was far too nosy for her own good. It would lead them right to Yliaster. Not a good plan even by their loose standards. There had to be some alternative, something that would get Izayoi out of the way without being too conspicuous. They could still kill her later, if it proved to be necessary. The important part, though, the part that could prove very detrimental to their plans, were those psychic powers of her. While she was far younger than Paradox, she was probably more powerful than his old friend and had received professional training, something Paradox had refused until it was too late to find someone who could help him. Paradox was powerful, no doubt, but everything he knew came from trial and error, from practicing over and over again. Then there had been that one instance where he'd managed to completely block off his own powers after one too many accidents and—

Ah, that would do it. Yes, blocking off and removing Izayoi Aki's powers would serve their purposes just fine. It would get rid of an annoying and dangerous opponent, and not a single member of Team 5D's knew enough about psychic powers to suspect foul play. It would be so easy to make it look like she'd blocked off her own powers in reaction to a bad loss. José accessed a database made specially for them, one that only members of their group had an access code for. It contained all their research, from long before Aporia had even found the others. And Z-one and Paradox, scientists that they were, had documented every single experiment down to the smallest details. Even those experiments they hadn't meant to hold, like the one where Antinomy had almost died in a D-Wheel crash, and of course, the one where Paradox had managed to briefly lose his powers. It was all here. They'd come up with a hypothesis of what had happened, how it had affected Paradox, and of course, because they tried to weaponize every single thing they had, how to replicate it. They'd accounted for meeting enemy psychics one day. They way to do it was simple, remarkably so, but to pull it off… That would be tricky. Still, it was very much worth a shot.

He expanded the relevant file with another wave of his hand. Yes, the equipment could be built. It would really be quite easy to build it… They only needed a way to get it to Izayoi Aki. By their own design, the earliest their teams could possibly meet was in the finals. This couldn't wait.

José smiled. Good thing they had contingency plans for just about everything. This situation was no exception, and Team 5D's division had the ideal team for their purposes, one that, in just a few short minutes, would have been sponsored by Yliaster for years and certainly didn't mind a little foul play, especially if it came with some extra money.

Yes, Team Catastrophe would do perfectly well. Sooner or later, they would be facing Team 5D's, and then Izayoi Aki wouldn't be a threat to them any longer.

 **oOoOo**

 **25 September 2029**

It is the dark we are comfortable in, and it is the dark where the host is sleeping. We have been assured the human vessel is female. This is, then, an important distinction to the humans? We do not know. We do not care. It is asleep. It retains some thoughts, enough to give it the idea of self, of individuality. A lie, of course. It is a young vessel, a chick, no more, and though it may perish when the humans do, it is still useful, it is still ours.

We wish to fly, but we cannot, not confined to this body that is too small to contain something as grand as the wings of a bird. And yet we do not dislike it. It is tiny, much like a newly-hatched chick, and it is as fragile as one too. If it were ours to raise, it would fly one day, and it would be magnificent. If a predator — a mountain lion maybe, or a condor — were to come to snatch it, to steal this precious offspring that is ours, we would attack and kill. We would peck and pierce until the attacker is blinded and hurt and easy to finish of. If a predator were to come, yes, we would fight. We would not defend, for we do not defend.

While the little one is asleep, we are more awake than ever, and we hear all. So we hear the intruder as it tries to sneak inside, tries to sneak up on the sleeping chick who can't defend itself. No, that will not do. The intruder is foolish, but it is also soft of tread and quick of step. We shall not underestimate it.

The intruder enters the nest, and we are interested now. The intruder is not from this time, is as untethered as a bird, as we are, but more so, for where we have the nest to return to, the intruder has been torn loose from the fabric of the world. We do not think the intruder knows. We hardly care. It will prove interesting.

It is using a sword, and we scoff. It is a human weapon we know, a weapon we have experienced up close and have learned the name of, but it is so ineffectual. Not as long as a bird's beak, not as sharp as a mountain lion's claws. The humans have better weapons. They have the clubs that release lead and explosions. They even have the monsters the host controls. The sword is so old now. Older than the intruder is, far older than it will ever be, and yet never as old as we are.

We wait — patiently hovering as we would over a flower — until the intruder is close, until the intruder strikes. The little one doesn't notice when we take over for it and turn the vessel away. Its consciousness is far away, not aware of anything but the dreams it holds of its past life, of the life it cherishes so much. It is silly, but then it is a chick. It hasn't learned to fly yet.

"... The fuck?" the intruder says. We do not recognize the words, but we understand their meaning. If the intruder is unbalanced, it is easy prey. We can toy with it. We can play with it, and tire it out and kill it. We shall enjoy the chase.

"You play with forces you do not understand," we say, and we use the voice of the vessel. The intruder is alarmed, but we smell no fear. We smell nothing that is human about it. It is foreign, not human, a vessel pre-created to house a soul. It does not matter. Human or not, it will perish.

"Try me, " the intruder says. "I don't care what you are, as long as you stay still long enough for me to kill you."

Ah, so it wants to kill the chick? Silly creature. "But the little one is already dead," we say. "How do you intend to kill it?"

"Then I'll make sure she doesn't come back to life," the intruder hisses. We admire it. It does not back down. It will not make its eventual demise any less painful, of course, but we admire courage, even if it consists primarily of foolishness.

"We do not wish for the chick to come to any harm," we say, for it is our chick, and it is such a useful vessel. The intruder still stands, sword within our reach, but it is distracted. Good. It will be a short fight.

"... Chick? And who's 'you' anyway?"

We spread our wings, and we imagine the intruder can see them. It steps back, sword at the height of its throat. We will pierce it there when the time comes. "We are Aslla Piscu," we say, and, "we are the Earthbound God, the Hummingbird, the Terror of Palpa."

"You can be the Crimson Dragon, for all I care," the intruder says. "The girl's gonna die either way."

"We are _not_ the Crimson Dragon." How dare this intruder even suggest that we are anything like the Crimson Dragon, the monster that dares call itself a god? The intruderdoes not listen. Instead it now attacks, and it is our foolishness that makes the blow hit, makes the sword pierce the chick's body. The vessel is waking up, panicking, but we take over for it again. We cannot feel pain, and neither can it, yet it thinks it should, and that alone makes it vulnerable. That alone is why we should protect it, for it cannot handle the world out there without us.

The intruder withdraws the sword, but there is no blood, and of course we are still standing. It is not used to having its victims survive, we know. The vessel has no life to save, so there is no way to harm it. Not with the ordinary weapons the intruder uses.

"You do not realize who we are," we say, and now we easily evade the intruders attacks, dance, fly, graceful as only a bird can. It got lucky; it shall have no more luck. "You cannot kill us, nor can you kill the chick." We do not offer it a chance to leave. It shall get no chance, not now it has tried to harm the vessel.

"How are you not alive," the intruder hisses, angry, and, "Why can't you stupid reporters just _die_!" Reporter? The vessel reacts, so the word must have meaning to it. How ridiculous. We laugh, and the vessel smiles when we make it so. The intruder halts.

"What the fuck is _wrong_ with you! Can't you go five steps in this world without running into some god or demon or other? Where were you when the world ended?"

The world will end? Ah, the intruder has brought us some news we find useful. This is highly advantageous. We would even have considered letting the intruder live for it, so it can bear witness to our reign and the new world we shall shape in our image. Only we shan't, because any mother bird will not let her chick come to harm, and this game has gone on for long enough. It is a pity, then, that we cannot assume our true form here.

"Your world will end, and all your loved ones, they will perish by our words and deeds," you tell it.

"Don't you think I fucking know that?!"

Ah, it is a shame it has taken us this long to realize. As untethered as the intruder is, he is not of this world or this time. It is a shame we shall allow it to find the means possible to travel to its past. Later, when the Crimson Dragon has been defeated, we shall have to take care to prevent it.

But now this game has gone on long enough, and we are bored and tired. We do not care for this fight; it is repetitive and provides us with no real challenge. So when the intruder attacks again, blindly, with no real coordination and just driven by anger — it has already lost — we make the vessel dodge, make it turn behind him and stay in his blind spot as a bird would avoid an attacker. These humans, their field of vision works differently, and we compensate for it. The intruder is no condor, does not pose the danger a bird that magnificent would. Were it any other time, any other place, where we had our full form and full access to our powers, we would now skewer the attacker from behind. Yet our beak is not present, and the chick has the weird human form that is so ineffectual. No wonder it has such trouble eating.

"Shall we end this now?" we whisper. The intruder whirls, faster than we would have given it credit for, but still not nearly fast enough. The chick is not as nimble or as strong as we wish it to be, and we have to force its body to move the way we want it to. We reach out a claw, and the vessel reaches out a hand, and we grab the sword the intruder is holding, blade first, and when the steel cuts into our vessel's hand, it does not draw blood nor pain.

"Wha— hey!"

We pull, and tear the sword loose, twirling it around and taking it by the handle. It is not quite like our beak, not nearly as sharp or effective, but it will do for our purposes. The intruder dances back out of range; it has recognized danger. Maybe it is not entirely stupid. Of course, it is not nearly smart enough to outwit us. So we near, and twist, and use the sword to get the intruder exactly where we want it.

And we strike.

It is the feel of steel piercing steel, not flesh, and the sensation is new to us, but the sword is strong and can easily handle the body of its former owner. It goes through easily, and the intruder gasps, bends double around the sword as we pull it out again, but it is still standing. Still alive.

So we strike again.

And again.

And again.

Only when we try to strike one last time, finish off the intruder with its own sword piercing its neck, it disappears in a flash of light and a ripple in the fabric of the universe. We drop the sword in disgust. Yes, we shall need to track it down once we rule the world. The chick is waking up fully now, and it takes in the sword, and the substance that isn't quite blood but came leaking out of the intruder anyway, and it sobs.

"Oh god... What did I— What—" The little human cries. It is such a weird thing, crying. "Jack... Help me... "

We sigh in disapproval. The chick needs to choose a better mate, one that will be good to it. Maybe if the Signer were to accept our reign and join our side, maybe then we would allow it.

The chick is still crying. We spread our wings to shield it.

 _Hush now, little one. We shall take care of you. We shall take care of everything._

 **oOoOo**

Mizoguchi Matsuyama was not in the habit of going through other people's belongings unless absolutely necessary. It had been necessary far more often than he'd assumed when he'd first taken on his job with Leblanc Industries, now almost twenty years ago. But it had not been his intention to snoop when he'd entered the living room and found both Paradox and Bruno slumped over at the table, fast asleep.

He'd shaken his head and moved over to wake them up and get them to bed. For all that they claimed to be responsible adults, they were much the same as Sherry: so focused on their mission that they'd drop dead from exhaustion if someone didn't tell them to go to sleep. He'd been about to do just that when his eyes had fallen on the cards still left on the table. Paradox's new deck, still largely incomplete. There had been some older cards too: well taken care of, but with visible wear. One of those, almost entirely covered by the newer cards, had caught his attention. He had only been able to see a tiny part of the card image, but it had looked so familiar…

And so he'd moved around the table, exceedingly careful not to wake up two people with self-described hair-trigger reflexes. Either those reflexes had dulled or they had really been that tired, for he'd managed to liberate the card.

He'd looked at it.

Then he'd left the room and gone directly to Sherry's bedroom.

"Milady."

Sherry groaned and blearily checked her phone, blinking against the harsh light before looking at him, eyes growing sharper as she saw his grave face.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Mizoguchi turned on the light in her room.

"I think you should see this," he said. He handed her the card. She gave him a confused look before turning her gaze to the card. Her eyes widened.

"Those utter bastards. Did they take—?" She went for her bedside table, grabbing her own deck holder and taking out her deck. Mizoguchi waited in tense silence as she rifled through the cards.

"It's still there," she muttered in amazement, staring at the Z-ONE card. Mizoguchi let out an internal sigh of relief. At least they hadn't stolen it. But now Sherry was holding her own Z-ONE card, and in her other hand a card that was identical in every way. A second Z-ONE card that had been in Paradox's deck. When they had first arrived, Paradox and Bruno had claimed to be on bad terms with Yliaster. Now Mizoguchi found himself wondering how true that really was.

Sherry didn't say anything. She got out of bed and stalked into the living room, still holding both cards.

"Up, now. Both of you," she snapped. Paradox and Bruno were awake before she even turned on the lights, immediately on high alert. "Explain. Now."

"What? Sherry, it's... four," Bruno muttered. She glared at him. Bruno's gaze went from her to Mizoguchi and his eyes widened when he saw Sherry's expression mirrored in Mizoguchi's face. Sherry held up the two Z-ONE cards.

"I'm giving you one minute to explain before I'm kicking you out. This better be good."

Paradox's expression could most adequately be described as, ' _fuck'_. He was wide awake now, as was Bruno, whose expression was quickly starting to mirror Paradox's. They shared a look.

"Sherry, we can explain," Paradox said hurriedly.

"Do so. Very quickly. What is this card and why do you have it?" Sherry turned to Bruno. "And let me guess, you have one too."

Bruno didn't answer. That alone was answer enough.

"It's a calling card," said Paradox abruptly. He sat down on the sofa. "The question isn't why we have it, it's why you have it."

"And, pray tell, why do I have it?"

"We don't know," Bruno said very softly, as if he was expecting them to throw them out every second. It was not an ungrounded fear; if they were a danger to Sherry, Mizoguchi would personally make sure they could never harm her again. "We haven't been able to figure that out yet. If you have it, it means Z-one gave it to you, but I don't know why."

"Who's Z-one?" She addressed Paradox. "What do you mean, a calling card?"

Mizoguchi found himself listening anxiously. They'd been searching for the meaning of this card for so many years…

It wasn't Paradox who replied, however, but Bruno. "Z-one's... Our leader, I guess you could say," he said. "In a way. He oversees most of what we do. Since we're in different timelines so often, that card's an easy way to contact him."

It took Mizoguchi a while to understand. "You mean to say that this is a… business card?"

"It's complicated tech!" Paradox began indignantly, but Sherry interrupted him.

"What's this have to do with my family? Why did you get me involved in your idiocy?"

"Z-one must've given it to you... How did you get it?"

"I don't remember," she admitted reluctantly. Mizoguchi grimaced.

"I do," he said. He looked away when Sherry turned around, betrayal obvious in her eyes. He hadn't told her before. It hadn't been a story for the child he'd been raising by himself since she was barely four. He hadn't wanted to keep secrets from her, but he also hadn't wanted to make her life even worse.

"Milady, I apologize. Your parents did not wish for you to be unduly worried."

Sherry took a deep breath. Then another. "Tell me what happened," she said at long last.

"When milady was... two, I think," Mizoguchi started slowly, "there was a lab accident. One of the inner labs of the Carcassonne facility caught on fire. Milady was spending time at the lab on that day."

The Carcassonne facility had been the Leblanc corporation's main building. After Sherry's parents had died, they had never gone back there even when they'd been in France. Last he'd heard, the place had been closed down.

"Two people died in the fire that day." Now he addressed her directly. "I'd only been working for your parents for a few months at the time. You were playing in the lab when it caught on fire, and we feared the worst. But when the fire was put out, we found you, hiding under a computer desk, completely unharmed. With that card."

Mizoguchi could see understanding dawn on Paradox. "Oh, I see," he whispered to Antinomy, but what he saw was completely beyond Mizoguchi's comprehension.

"I just had it? Just like that?" Sherry asked.

"Yes."

"It saved your life," Paradox said bluntly. "Your parents must have realized that."

"It's just a card. You said it was just a card." Now Sherry was starting to sound a little hysterical. Mizoguchi wanted to comfort her, but she wouldn't let him now. The card had been a mystery even at the time. No one had ever seen it before; for all intents and purposes, it had appeared out of thin air.

"I should've died," Bruno said. He was still refusing to look at them. "You're right. I do have a copy of that card. The accident in which I lost my memory should have killed me. But one of the things it does... It protects the owner if they're in grave danger. Not always, but for us, it was a way to get out unscathed if we got in danger. It did the same for you."

Mr. and Mrs. Leblanc had speculated as much after the incident. They'd sewn the card into Sherry's teddy bear and implored her to keep the bear with her at all times.

"Why'd they give it to me?" Sherry asked, now looking at him again. "It could've saved them! They should've kept it so—"

"They're DNA-coded," Paradox said before Mizoguchi could reply. Bruno hissed: "Paradox!"

"What? She's going to find out sooner or later anyway. As of now, there are maybe ten people in the whole of time for whom that card would be any help. At most. Your parents weren't part of that group."

 _Who is?_ Mizoguchi wanted to ask, but Sherry beat him to the punch. "Why me?" she asked.

Paradox and Bruno shared a look, and Bruno shrugged. "Go ahead," he said. "You knew her better than I did."

"We weren't the only survivors, obviously," Paradox began. "We were part of a fairly decent-sized group at first. One of the other survivors was Chiasma. She was the head of a chain of research facilities across Japan and Europe. A member of a very rich French family."

Mizoguchi narrowed his eyes. "Milady."

Paradox nodded, now looking back at Sherry. "Chiasma was... Chiasma's parents never died when she was a child, so she wasn't like you at all, but genetically, she was Sherry Leblanc. The Z-one cards were coded for her DNA just like it is for ours. That's why they will always work for you, but wouldn't have done a thing to save your parents."

Sherry didn't react for a long time. Mizoguchi could practically read the emotions crossing her face: disbelief, pain, even jealousy of this other Sherry who'd been able to keep her parents.

"Milady, are you all right?" he asked. Sherry didn't reply right away. She sat down heavily next to Paradox, who turned at her with something like concern in his eyes. Mizoguchi wanted to believe it was genuine, but after finding that card, every fiber of his body wanted to keep Sherry away from the two of them.

"Why were milady's parents killed?" he asked. That was one part of the story that still didn't make sense to Mizoguchi. Assuming their story was true, and the card was only meant to protect its owner, why had Yliaster wanted to steal it? Why had they killed people to steal it?

"... I don't know," Paradox said, reluctant. "They had no reason to. They didn't even know Chiasma."

Antinomy was making furious hushing motions with his hands. Paradox blanched.

"Forget I said that," he said in a rush, but the pieces were already coming together rapidly, and the picture wasn't one he liked. A card that only worked for ten people and was known by even less? Yliaster somehow knowing about it anyway? Killing Sherry's parents over it? Sherry got up. One look told Mizoguchi that she'd come to the same conclusion.

"Sherry—" said Paradox. Sherry punched him. Perfect form, as always.

"You lying bastards," she hissed, watching with satisfaction as Paradox cradled his face. "You knew them all along. They're from your future. They're your _friends._ "

Bruno moved forward and Mizoguchi did the same. For a moment, they were caught in a standoff, neither of them backing down. Then Bruno slumped, making himself look smaller in an act that Mizoguchi was never going to fall for again.

"Look, friends is a strong word—"

" _Stop lying to me!_ " Sherry shouted. "You've been lying to me since you got here. You've been hiding all the things you promised you'd tell me and you've been playing me for a fool all along!"

"We're telling you the truth now, aren't we?" Paradox shouted back, still rubbing his face where she'd hit him. "Fuck, you punch hard."

He'd taught her well.

"Anything else I should know? Anything else you neglected to mention, maybe?"

"Sherry, please, let's discuss this calmly, okay?" Bruno said. Mizoguchi raised an eyebrow. What right did he think he had to speak?

"You're right," Bruno continued. "We did know them in our future, but... Well, we're really not on good terms with them either." He glanced at Paradox. "At least I'm not."

"And why is that?" Mizoguchi all but growled.

"They were the ones who caused me to lose my memory in the first place."

What a mess. How had they managed to survive that long if they were trying to kill each other at every turn?

Bruno visibly hesitated. "There is one more thing we didn't tell you," he said.

"Do tell," Sherry growled.

"Yliaster, well, they're kind of in the tournament already. Team New World. That's them."

The team with the child as their first rider? _That_ was Yliaster? They had really shown themselves so publicly? How had they never been able to find out even that about them?

"I understand if you want us to leave, but—"

 _Yes,_ Mizoguchi wanted to say, but again Sherry was faster than him.

"No."

"Milady—"

"You're going to help me find them and beat them. For real this time."

"And if we don't?" Paradox asked. Unlike Bruno, he hadn't gotten up, but every line in his body radiated tension.

"I'm sure Fudou Yusei would be very interested in some of the things I have to tell him."

Bruno blanched. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

Paradox suddenly snorted, breaking the tension in the room. Sherry glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"All right, we'll help you out," he said. "Don't expect miracles, though." He sobered. "I really don't know why they tried to kill your parents. It doesn't make sense. They joined long after Chiasma died."

"Then I'll ask them myself," she decided. Mizoguchi jerked.

"Milady, it would be dangerous to confront them alone," he said. He couldn't let her go into this much danger alone. She was perfectly capable of handling herself in any ordinary fight, but against Yliaster?

"I know. That's why they're going to help me. And that's why we're going to win this tournament and beat them."

Mizoguchi would much rather have continued with just the two of them, as they had planned originally, but Bruno might still be useful. He eyed them. They might be the best protection they had against Yliaster.

"Okay," Bruno said. "They won't like seeing you, though."

"You will not let milady come to any harm," Mizoguchi said. Paradox shrugged.

"Can't promise that."

At least that was honest. Would Yliaster still try to kill Sherry for merely owning the card? If they did, perhaps Bruno and Paradox would act as enough of a deterrent to keep them away.

 **oOoOo**

Aki woke up to a white ceiling. The ceiling of her room wasn't white. It was blue, and it had stars and planets on it that glowed in the dark. They'd been there since she was four, and now, so many years later, she'd never quite been able to bring herself to remove them. She'd put them up with her dad, on one of his rare days at home, and they'd spent the entire afternoon arguing over constellations and why he couldn't put the stars in Orion's Belt in a straight line.

So she wasn't at home. She closed her eyes again and tried to pull her arms properly under the covers, only to become aware of the IV-drip hindering her left arm. What was she doing in a hospital? She'd gone out to practice for the match against Team Catastrophe, and she'd crashed and tried to summon her monsters and— Oh no.

She reached up, found the ubiquitous red alarm button and pressed it, before slumping back into the cushions. Even that little bit of effort had already exhausted her. Her head was pounding and her chest hurt. Looking down, she only now noticed the large compress that covered most of her upper chest and even went up to her throat. She didn't remember getting hurt there. She'd only hit her head, right? Aki groaned. Her hair was getting in her eyes and—Where was her hair roll? She groped around, but she didn't have it in and it wasn't on her nightstand either. If her powers got out of control…

But her head hurt too much to focus right now. She wanted a shower, but she also wanted to go home and lie in her own bed. How long had she been out? There was a clock in the room, which told her it was three in the afternoon. Would they let her out before the match against Team Catastrophe? She had to! Crow's arm was still broken, and he'd spent so much effort helping her practice. She couldn't let him down now, not after they'd already lost their first match! If they lost against Team Catastrophe...

Five minutes passed, and no one showed up. Frustrated, Aki pressed the alarm button again. She could hear people in the hallway, so it wasn't like there was no one around. She let herself fall back and wished she had her deck, or her phone, or anything that could keep her busy. Instead she was stuck listening to the people in the hallway and wondering what she was going to do next.

It took another five minutes before anyone deigned to show up, right when Aki was about to press the alarm button a third time. A nurse walked in, not looking up from her clipboard.

"Izayoi-san? Can I help you?"

"I'm awake," she said, and immediately felt ridiculous about it. The nurse finally made eye contact with her.

"Yes, I see. How are you feeling? The doctor will be by shortly," she said.

"What day is it?," Aki asked.

"Thursday. You've been out since yesterday afternoon."

Thursday?! But the match against Team Catastrophe was today and she wasn't there! Aki tried to sit up. She had to get her phone. What about the guys? What about the match?

"Please don't overexert yourself, Izayoi-san. You have recovered remarkably well, but you have a concussion. Someone will be by to take your blood pressure soon. Until then, please remain calm."

That explained the dizziness and the headache brewing behind her eyes. "Why do I have these bandages on my chest?" she asked. The nurse tsked.

"When you fell, most of your upper chest was cut open by the gravel of the track. You were very lucky that your injuries were merely superficial and that you suffered no internal damage. I recommend wearing better safety gear next time."

"What happened to my riding suit?"

"I'm afraid the paramedics had to cut it apart to treat you, Izayoi-san."

Aki looked down. So she'd need a different riding suit as well. Her parents' tailor had made her the first one. Maybe she should find someone who actually had experience with making riding suits this time. And speaking of her parents…

"Where is my phone? Do my parents know I'm awake?" she asked. "And where's my hair roll?"

"Your personal belongings are in the safe next to your bed," the nurse said. She was back to her clipboard. "Wearing such a large metal object under your helmet isn't safe, you know. You're lucky you didn't end up with a cranial fracture. I will have someone alert your parents."

 _Make sure you don't pay too much attention to me,_ Aki thought. She glanced around and spotted a bottle of water with a glass next to on the night stand, along with several get well cards. She hadn't noticed them before, but now she counted three- no, four. Her parents, Team 5D's... She honestly had no idea who the other two might be from.

"The doctor will be here soon," the nurse said again. "Feel free to call us if you need anything."

Yeah, she'd do that if she ever learned how to predict fifteen minutes in advance when she needed something. Aki nodded and valiantly succeeded in not rolling her eyes. The nurse left and she looked at the safe, built in the top drawer of her nightstand. They could have told her the code to open it.

She keyed in her birthdate, then the pin code of her debit card, but both were rejected by the safe. Finally, on a whim, she just pressed 0-0-0-0. It opened.

 _Factory standards._ Good thing no one had apparently tried to go through her stuff when she'd been unconscious, because the hospital clearly wasn't much for security. She grabbed her hair roll and quickly put it back in, ignoring the twinge of pain when it touched her forehead. Her phone was next. Fortunately, someone had turned it off after she'd ended up here, so it was still fully charged.

 _Twelve new messages_ , the display read, and right underneath it, _Seven missed calls_. Most of the texts and calls were from friends, asking how she was doing, and there was a voicemail from Crow, telling her not to worry about the WRGP and to let him know immediately if she was awake. Another one was from a Neo Domino News reporter, asking for an interview about her accident. She deleted that one. If she'd talk to any journalist, it'd be Carly.

She spent five minutes texting her friends and parents to tell them she was awake, then turned her attention to the cards. Two from her parents and Team 5D's, as she'd predicted. All her teammates had signed the second card, and Crow had even seen fit to add three x's under his name. She smiled and put the card back next to the one her parents had sent, looking at the doe on the front. The third one was from her classmates at Duel Academia. Almost every available bit of space on the inside of the card had been taken up by names and messages, many telling her to get better and win the WRGP. The fourth, the only one with a rose on the front, because everyone else had clearly tried to be original, was unsigned.

She turned the card around, but apart from another get well message, this one written in large, kind of messy handwriting, there was no name anywhere.

 _By the way, you were really awesome against Unicorn,_ read the P.S. She turned the card around once more. A fan? But why would they send her a card and then not sign it?

Her phone started buzzing, and she almost dropped the card in surprise. She quickly put the card next to the others and answered the call. Her parents. Looked like visiting hours had begun.

Five hours later, most of her visitors had come and gone, and she was more or less up to date again. She'd been unconscious for a day, and this morning the team had managed to defeat Team Catastrophe, while Team Unicorn had been defeated themselves. Aki would have been happier if Team Unicorn hadn't been hospitalized in the process. They were in the same hospital she was in, according to Yusei. They had been good opponents. Maybe she should go visit them once her head wasn't pounding anymore.

And pound it did. After five hours of non-stop visitors, she wanted nothing more than a painkiller and a good night's rest. The latter she'd probably get soon enough, but the nurses outright refused to give her anything, even paracetamol. Crow had made a fuss about it, to no avail. In the end, he'd promised to bring her some tomorrow.

So now she was almost alone. Only Ruka was still sitting in the red, faux leather chair next to her bed. Since Rua had gone to the cafeteria for some dinner for him and his sister, they hadn't spoken, and Aki was grateful for it. She still had far too much on her mind, and it wasn't doing her head any favors.

"Aki-neesan?" Ruka asked softly. Aki wanted to turn her head, but she was too tired to do so.

"Yeah?"

"When you fell... I mean, you tried to summon your monsters, right? How come it didn't work?"

Aki had tried not to think about that too much. She opened the drawer and groped blindly for her deck. "I don't know," she said. "It just... Failed." Like something had blocked it. She finally found her deck and took the first monster she could find. Blue Rose Dragon. She dredged up what little energy she could find and concentrated on the card, focusing, focusing... But it was like her mind had been blocked off, like the tunnel her powers normally went through had been closed, with only the tiniest cracks here and there. Briefly, she thought she saw the monster appear, and she focused even harder, channeling everything she had, but it didn't work. She couldn't use her psychic powers anymore. And it wasn't even like they were gone. She could feel them, building up in her mind, in her body. They just didn't have a way out.

"I can't do it," she whispered. What good was she now? She couldn't duel and now Crow had had to duel again, with his broken arm. And now... She'd promised Manjoume-san to go to Norway and summon Rainbow Dragon, but now she couldn't even do that anymore.

"I'm worse than useless," she said. She hadn't intended for Ruka to hear it, but she did anyway.

"That's not true!" the girl said, half out of her chair already. "Everyone misses you!"

"Yeah, and what can I even do for them? I can't duel like this and I can't use my powers... I might as well quit the team right now."

"No, don't!" Ruka sounded genuinely panicked, but then Aki had expected little else. It didn't make her words any less true. "You'll get them back, I know! And your monsters are still here!"

That got her attention. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Blue Rose Dragon is right there..." she pointed at a spot next to Aki's left leg. Aki looked, but predictably didn't see anything.

"Ruka-chan, I can't see spirits. That doesn't help me."

"I guess..." Ruka looked down. Aki immediately felt bad. That was Ruka's own power, seeing spirits, and one none of them really shared. Yusei had told them once that he could see them, once in a while, and there had been one time when Aki'd thought she'd seen them, but…

"What's it like?" she asked. "Seeing them?"

"It's... They're just there," Ruka said. "I don't know, I always see them. They're just like the holograms, only a bit... see-throughy?" She waved her hands.

"How do you do it?"

Ruka was silent for a long time. "I just do," she said finally. "I've always been able to see them, ever since I was born."

"Oh," Aki said. She sighed. "I guess it's just one of those things you're born with, then?"

But Ruka shook her head vehemently. "No, no! I mean, yeah, for some people it is, but there was this girl at school who started to see them last year. She was really freaked out at first, but now she's happy. She can only see her own monsters, though. Some people see more than others." She bit her lip. "I always thought it was kind of like your psychic powers? It manifests differently, but there's something... similar."

"The groundwork is the same?"

"Yes! It's like they're just two manifestations of the same kind of power."

That made some sense. The Arcadia movement had focused on teaching her how to use her psychic powers, not on teaching her about the origins of it, but news of people who saw monster spirits wasn't new. There were even those who saw ghosts, but being psychic was no guarantee for being able to see either and vice versa.

"You think anyone can learn it, then?"

"Maybe not anyone..." Ruka was clearly choosing her words very carefully, "but if you keep an open mind, then yeah, I think you can."

The concept intrigued her more than it should. But she'd just lost her psychic powers; it wasn't as if she was ever going to be able to see spirits. She glanced at her right arm, the one without the IV-drip. At least the dragon hadn't yet decided it didn't need a useless Signer.

"Aki-san, the dragon won't take back its birthmark. Please don't worry about that," Ruka said. She radiated confidence, in the calm, gentle way that only Ruka was capable of.

"How'd you know?"

"It likes us," the girl said with a shrug. "It likes people."

"Then shouldn't it find the best person for the job if it wants to help people so much? Someone who can actually accomplish something?"

"It thinks you can."

How did she know? Had she picked up all of that just from talking to the dragon that one time? Ruka looked at her with calm eyes.

"People don't just like you for your psychic powers, you know," she said. Aki looked up at the ceiling. No, they tended to dislike her for them more often than not. She'd wished, as a child, that she could be rid of them. Now she was and she felt entirely useless.

"How do you start seeing monsters?" she asked. "How did your friend start seeing them?"

She heard Ruka sigh softly. "I don't know, I just... do. It's like breathing. I don't have to think about it," the girl said. "Akane-chan just came to school one day and she was all panicky, but then Patty heard about it and told me, so we managed to calm her down. She said she'd woken up at night and there was a zombie horse next to her bed."

Aki couldn't suppress a smile. "She runs a zombie deck?"

"Yeah." Ruka giggled. "She thinks it's really cool now."

That was good for her, but Aki doubted she'd one day wake up with Black Rose Dragon breathing down on her. Could you even feel their breath? If you could see them, could you feel them too?

"Usually not," Ruka said when she asked her. "They have some effect on the world sometimes, but mostly they're intangible." She shifted in her chair, and the leather creaked. "I'm sorry I can't help, Aki-neesan. I'd love to explain how to do it, but I can't."

"It's okay." She was still very very tired, and despite Ruka's reassurances, she didn't feel better about herself. What was she going to do now? What _could_ she do now, except sit in the stands and watch other people do all the things she couldn't?

"Don't worry," Ruka said. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

It would be so easy to believe Ruka when she sounded as calmly self-assured as she did right now. And still, still, for all that she really wanted to, Aki knew that she couldn't.

 **oOoOo**

"I am sorry about last Tuesday," Carly said with a frown. She sipped from her tea and opened her laptop. Stephanie leaned over to look at the screen.

"It's okay. I didn't think they'd be that angry," she said. She'd come knocking at Carly's apartment at ten in the evening, after she'd been let off her shift. Now they were both sitting at her kitchen table, with tea Stephanie had insisted on making, because, "You won't do it right anyway."

"Me neither..." Carly said. Would they really revoke her press pass? She studied the flowers on her mug while waiting for the log-in screen to appear and wondered if she should get new mugs. These were a ragtag bunch she'd managed to buy when she'd just arrived in Neo Domino, and she didn't think she had any that actually matched. Stephanie was drinking from one that had tiny blue cats on it. "I guess we know the boy is okay, at least?"

"Yeah."

They both sighed, and Carly typed in her password. Stephanie glared at the screen, and Carly was suddenly very aware of her wallpaper: a picture of her and Jack, his arm around her waist. She'd roped Crow into taking it for them a year ago, right after Daedalus Bridge had been opened. Well, she and Stephanie might be on decent terms now, but she wasn't going to apologize for that.

She quickly opened her internet browser and asked, hands poised above the keyboard, "So Kant only said he had a sister?"

"Yeah. I think he was scared of me," Stephanie said. Carly frowned. Stephanie didn't exactly cut a frightening figure. She'd already searched every combination of the members of Team Chevalier, and except for Sherry Leblanc and Mizoguchi, none of them seemed to have any connection to each other.

"Nothing else?"

"His sister is named... Erica? I don't know how you spell that. Apparently, she's excited about him being in the tournament."

That did give her something to work with. She opened Tokyo's official site and for several minutes vainly tried to access their residents' register. Of course they wouldn't give her access. Not to someone who had no relation to the Kants whatsoever. She was just about to give up in frustration and ask Yusei to do it for her when Stephanie asked, "Why don't you just look for her name online?"

Oh, _stupid_. In her hurry to go directly for the most plausible source, she'd forgotten to do the logical thing first. Erica Kant only gave her results for people who most definitely didn't live in Tokyo, or even Japan. Erika Kant, however...

"Well, we have a hit," she announced, looking at the page. Stephanie, who'd just gone to make more tea, turned around and leaned against the counter.

"That's good, right?"

"Uh, yeah. You said she was excited about him being in the WRGP?"

"Yeah?"

Carly turned the screen to show the bright blue birth announcement. "Erika Kant was born last month."

"What?" Stephanie abandoned the kettle and leaned over the back of her chair. "It's got to be someone else then, right? Does she have a brother?"

Carly read on. "Yeah, but not one named Timothy." She tapped the screen. "Bruno Kant. Seven years old."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Unless he's lying about who he is, and just using the Kants as a cover." Carly stared at the screen. The announcement only mentioned a brother called Bruno, who was seven, but Timothy Kant was supposed to be twenty. Why would he lie about who he was? What could he possibly have to gain from it? She went looking for pictures on a whim. It was amazing how many pictures of their kids people left around the internet these days, because half a minute later, she'd found a page with birth pictures of Erika Kant, most of them showing her together with her brother, a cute-looking kid with short blue hair and grey eyes. She grinned.

"This is kind of funny," she said. "You know Bruno? The guy who used to live with Jack and the guys?"

"The one who lost his memory? What do you mean by used to?" Stephanie asked. She went back to the kettle and set about to making more tea.

"Yeah, apparently he left a few weeks back. But just look at this picture," Carly said. She turned the screen again, and Stephanie came over reluctantly. "Don't you think he looks like an older version of that kid? I mean, even the names are the same!"

Stephanie frowned. "I guess... I didn't see him very often. What's that mean then?"

"Probably nothing." Carly shrugged. "It's just a funny coincidence, that's all." Jack might get a kick out of it. She opened her e-mail account and sent him the picture. Come to think of it, maybe they were related? Then their Bruno had been a very long way from home. As long as they couldn't find him, they wouldn't be able to ask, and with the WRGP, Bruno hadn't exactly been her top priority.

"So now what?" Stephanie asked, bringing over their cups again. Carly sipped and winced. Too hot.

"Dunno. But if Timothy Kant is lying about who he is, I want to know why."

"Do you think he actually knows them?" Stephanie pointed at the pictures on the screen. "Or did he just pick a name at random, and it happened to be a real family?"

"No idea." She sighed. Maybe she should just leave it be and go with Team Chevalier's version of the story. She'd be interviewing them soon. But if he was lying about his name, then what else was he lying about? And did his team know? She couldn't just leave it be.

Her phone rang. Jack? That was fast. She'd only sent the picture a minute ago, and she didn't think it was that funny.

"Jack? Hi, I—"

There was commotion on the other side of the line, and Carly thought she heard Yusei. Then Jack said, " _Carly, that picture, where'd you get it?_ "

"Online?" Carly frowned at Stephanie and put her phone on speaker. "Me and Stephanie were just doing research for the WRGP."

" _What do you mean, the WRGP?_ "

"Well, yeah, you know Timothy Kant? From Chevalier? He said something about having a sister, and apparently that's a lie, but yeah, there was that kid who looked like Bruno, so we thought you might find it funny." Mid-sentence, she heard her own voice echoing back at her. She'd been put on speaker. There was more struggling on the other side, and Carly raised her eyebrows. What was so spectacular about that picture? Someone — maybe Crow — was asking, "Timothy Kant?", and she heard more noise, before Yusei came on the phone.

" _Carly, can you come over?_ "

She glanced at the clock in the corner of her laptop screen. "It's almost eleven."

" _This is important._ "

She and Stephanie exchanged a look. What had gotten them so worked up? "Well, alright, I guess. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

She finished the call and closed her laptop, looking for her jacket all the while. What had gotten into them? "Apparently something's the matter with that picture," she told Stephanie. She hesitated, but Stephanie had already helped her. Leaving her out now would be unfair. "Do you want to come along?"

Stephanie made a face. "I've got to be at the café at seven tomorrow. Just tell me how it went."

"I'll drop you off," she offered, grabbing her car keys and her bag. Stephanie shook her head.

"It's out of your way. I'll walk."

"If you're sure..." They left her apartment together, but went their separate ways once they reached her car. Fifteen minutes later, she reached the garage. Yusei opened the door before she could knock.

"You're late," he said. Carly raised an eyebrow. Someone was in a bad mood. She stepped inside to find Jack and Crow gathered near one of the many computers in the house, looking at the picture she'd sent them.

"So what's the big deal?" she asked. They both looked up, but it was Yusei who replied.

"You mentioned Timothy Kant. What does he have to do with that picture?"

"Uh, nothing?" she shrugged. "Honestly, it was just a coincidence. He said he had a sister called Erika, so we found Erika Kant, and apparently she has a brother. But you know, her brother's seven, so Timothy Kant is just lying about something."

"Bruno said he had a sister..." Yusei said, his expression pained.

"What if this is the first Bruno?" Crow said. Carly was most definitely confused now. Why did they keep bringing up Bruno? Just because the kid looked like him and had the same name? Okay, sure, that was a bit too weird to just be coincidence, but still.

"Maybe they're family? I mean, Bruno said he remembered his name, but maybe he remembered the wrong one?" she suggested. Yusei completely ignored her.

"But if that is the first Bruno, then—" he stopped abruptly. "No, he wouldn't."

He practically jumped down the stairs and took over the computer from Jack and Crow. Carly followed, giving Jack a confused look. He shook his head. "Recognition program," Yusei was muttering, sifting through files and tabs until he had both a picture of their Bruno and Timothy Kant. "And run."

Dots and lines appeared on both pictures, more and more, until the entire screen was littered with them and a message reading _One hundred percent match_ appeared. "No way," Crow whispered.

"We've got him," Yusei said, his expression an incredibly strange mix between joy and anger. "He was right under our noses all along."

"Okay, what is going on?" Carly burst out. Were they honestly saying that Timothy Kant was Bruno? And how did that in any way involve the little kids in the picture? "Is anyone going to tell me anything?"

"Carly," Jack said, exchanging looks with the other two. "Can it wait?"

"No!"

"Paradox..." Crow said. "Their backbencher. It's got to be him."

Who?

"Then Sherry knew all along. We talked to her!" Yusei said. "We talked to Bruno," he added softly.

Carly snapped. "What is going on here? You don't get to make me leave my flat at eleven in the evening and then not tell me anything! What do you mean, Timothy Kant is Bruno?"

All of them looked uncomfortable. "I'm not going to stop asking," she added for good measure. "So?"

"Carly, this is dangerous," Jack hedged. "Bruno's not who you think he is. You'd better stay out of this."

"You can't just leave me hanging!"

"I don't want you to get hurt again,!" Jack shouted.

 _Again?_ "Oh, so let's all act like little Carly is too stupid to take care of herself? If any of you actually bothered to _tell_ me anything—!" She still had weeks missing from her memories, and while everyone seemed to know what had happened, no one ever told her anything. "You know what? Forget it, Jack," she said coldly. "I'll find out on my own. Have fun keeping your secrets."

"Carly!"

She clutched the straps of her bag as she made her way to the door. "Stephanie still has an open tab for you. You'd better go pay that."

And she took great care to slam the door behind her. She even made it all the way to her car before realizing what she'd done.

 _Well,_ she thought, feeling more than a little hysterical, _I'm going to need a new wallpaper for my laptop._

* * *

 **First Aid with Heleentje:** And so the riding suit from hell meets its demise. It shall not be missed.

Some liberties were taken here. Realistically, Aki would've been in an intensive care unit if she'd been unconscious for over two days. Wear proper protective gear, people.

 **Next chapter:** Yusei gets acquainted with the local nightlife.


	11. X - Gatecrashers

**X. Gatecrashers**

"Carly!" Jack was almost at the stairs when Carly slammed the door behind her, leaving him standing helplessly with one foot poised over the first step. Crow whistled.

"Better go apologize," he said. There was the sound of a car taking off at full speed, engine doing overtime, and he winced. "Or not."

"I'm going after her," Jack said, heading for the garage and his D-Wheel. Yusei held up a hand, continuing to type furiously with the other.

"Jack, wait, I'm almost in." He'd almost found Sherry's file. Of course the WRGP site wouldn't release anyone's address to the general public, but Security had it. Without Bruno, hacking went a lot slower, but it wasn't anything he couldn't accomplish. Besides, if he found it, he'd have Bruno back soon enough.

"They can wait. I'm going to find Carly," Jack said, and he was out of the door before Yusei could protest. He sighed. He really would have preferred to have everyone with him, but with the twins probably already fast asleep and Aki in the hospital, that just left him and Crow, whose arm was still broken. The screen switched, prompting for another password. They'd dropped their dueling puzzle for something that couldn't be cracked by anyone who could think logically, instead opting for the tried-and-true passwords method. Even easier. Yusei made short work of it, and the Security database finally opened up to him. Unlike the last time when he'd hacked into it, to find Bruno, this time he immediately went for Sherry Leblanc's profile. Even if Bruno and Paradox weren't staying with her, she'd still know where they were.

He found the address and copied it with a grim smile. Tops, not even all that far from where Rua and Ruka lived. Figured that she'd have one of the big fancy apartments.

"Got it," he told Crow, getting up and shrugging on his jacket. Crow ambled over with a sigh.

"You sure you wanna do this now? It'll be midnight by the time we'll get there. They're never going to let us in." He looked at the address and raised his eyebrows. "And Tops? They close the entire block at night, remember?"

Yusei snorted. "Seriously? That's not the worst security we've ever faced." Crow had broken into several depots, at least two Security facilities, in and out of prison, into more buildings than he could count and once even straight into the head officer's private room, and those were only the instances Yusei was aware of. The idea of Tops being a challenge to the two of them together was ludicrous at best.

"Yes, when it mattered." Crow sighed. "Yusei, listen. You've been wanting to find Bruno, and okay, I get that. Fine. But breaking into Tops at this time of night? We can wait until tomorrow."

"No, we can't," Yusei retorted. Bruno could be anywhere by tomorrow. If they didn't go now—

"Yes, we can," said Crow, stressing every word. "You're not thinking smart. In Satellite, we broke into stuff because we had no other choice, and we always, _always_ waited for the best moment. They're not going to run. They don't even know they've been found! They open Tops during the day, remember? So tomorrow morning, we can just walk up, say we came to see Rua and Ruka, and go straight on."

Crow was making sense, and Yusei hated it. He sat back down in front of the computer and set about to make doubly sure he'd removed all traces of his hacking attempt, just to give himself time to think. If it were just him, he would've been on his way to Tops already. He wanted to see Bruno, and he had to confront Paradox, and probably Sherry too. Did Sherry even know how dangerous Paradox was? She could be in great danger without even realizing it. Though Bruno wouldn't let anything happen, right? And neither would Mizoguchi. They'd need to get past Mizoguchi too. That might actually be the hardest part of all. But if they waited until tomorrow, or until the WRGP...

He sighed and closed all the windows. "I guess you're right," he admitted. If they got caught breaking in, they'd lose their position on the WRGP and everything they'd worked for. It just wasn't worth it. That was, after all, the logical decision.

"Right." Crow gave him a relieved smile. "We'll go find them tomorrow. They'll still be there. It's not like they can drop out of the tournament right now."

Oh, right. With all the commotion about Timothy Kant being Bruno, Yusei had almost forgotten that he was also participating in the WRGP. The blocks they were in ensured they would never meet unless they both made it to the semifinals. Yusei suspected that Yliaster had set up the tournament like that intentionally. Wait, did that mean they knew...

"I'm going for a walk," he announced, getting back up. Crow made an alarmed noise.

"You're not gonna do anything stupid, are you?" he asked. He looked like he would physically prevent Yusei from leaving if he said yes.

"No, I'm not, I swear," Yusei said. "I won't go anywhere near Tops, I promise."

He wasn't even lying; however much he wanted to go right now, he wouldn't risk it. He had the team to think of. Right now, he just needed some fresh air. Crow still looked suspicious, but he let Yusei pass, and he seemed mollified when Yusei made no attempt to take Yusei-Go, instead opting to leave on foot.

The night air was colder than he'd expected, and he pulled his jacket closer the moment he stepped outside. The day had been very warm and very clear, and now, at night, the sky was still free of clouds. In Satellite, this would have been a good time for looking at the stars, but the streetlights and large neon advertising screens of the City made it impossible to see all but the very brightest stars. He thought he could see Vega, and Cassiopeia to the east, but astronomy had never been his strong suit. What little material he'd been able to find on it had never been enough to satisfy his curiosity. Maybe he should just walk to Satellite. It wasn't exactly far away, just a few kilometers. He could easily go there and be back before dawn.

But perhaps better not. Yusei backtracked on his thoughts, crossing the street and walking in the direction of the city center as he did so. He had promised not to go to Tops, and he intended to keep that promise, but maybe the constant crowds in the City would distract him. Saturday night meant party night for the students of Neo Domino University, which meant in turn that there'd be something interesting to see. The WRGP itself wouldn't be running during the weekend, and their round two matches were only scheduled for next Wednesday. Team Chevalier's bracket had gotten Tuesday, he recalled. That line of thought led him right back to Bruno, who was also in the tournament, and now apparently also the same person who'd shown him Accel Synchro. He remembered first meeting him, and he wasn't like Bruno at all. So then who was the real Bruno?

And Accel Synchro, was that something he should still learn? Was that something Bruno would still want to teach him? However much it pained him to admit it, their first meeting very likely hadn't been a coincidence, and Bruno — Antinomy? — probably hadn't shown him because he'd happened to feel like it. So should he learn? Did he want to learn?

That was a stupid question. Of course he did. What self-respecting duelist wouldn't want to? Yusei kicked a pebble and watched it fly across the street, miraculously miss all oncoming traffic and disappear into the gutter on the other side of the road. The closer he got to the city center, the more people there were. He avoided a group of students who were taking up most of the sidewalk, already drunk and very loud about it. It wasn't even midnight yet. Lightweights.

He made it to the city center in good time and took the now-familiar route to Security. There were still lights burning in the building when he arrived. Of course they'd have people working day and night. Maybe he shouldn't stand around for too long, not when he didn't have anything to do here. He grinned involuntarily. If he ever told them exactly how fragile their servers were, they probably wouldn't thank him for it. Hey, not his fault if they made them so easy to access.

He rounded the corner, away from Security and up in the sloping parts of the city. That was taking him dangerously close to Tops, but he'd turn back before he got there. Here, there were less people, and Yusei was relieved to leave the party-going students behind him. Not quite because he envied them their nights out, but more because it reminded him of what he was missing out on himself.

He almost didn't see the flash of light down in the alley up front, but the groans of pain were hard not to hear. He hurried forwards, taking out his phone as he went. If someone was in trouble, they'd need help. He rounded the corner to a person, crouched down in pain, his clothes ripped and torn.

"Do you need help—" he started to say, only to stop when he realized just who exactly he was looking at. "Plácido?"

What the hell? Plácido looked like he hadn't even noticed him yet, and Yusei took the chance to round the corner again and hide. What had happened to him? He chanced another glance. Plácido was slowly getting up, and— was he sparking? Wait... What?

"Stupid woman," Plácido was muttering. He got up fully, and— Wow. Someone, something had stabbed right through him. Several times. What was left of his robes did a fairly decent job at concealing the worst of the damage, but still, the conclusion was abundantly clear. First of all, Plácido had run into something that he obviously hadn't been prepared for. Second of all, he clearly wasn't human. Yusei took a deep breath and retreated further back as Plácido left the alley. So, robot. Unless the people in Bruno's future were magically capable of surviving severe stab wounds through the stomach and torso, but somehow Yusei rather doubted that was the case. He wasn't even bleeding or anything.

He ducked behind a bench when Plácido left the alley, praying he wouldn't come in Yusei's direction. He didn't. Instead he turned the other way, away from the city center and in the direction of Tops. Yusei winced. He had promised Crow not to go, but if Plácido was going there, maybe he should follow anyway? This was clearly important.

Mind made up, he followed Plácido from a distance, keeping as much space between them as possible while still keeping an eye on him. Right before he hit the main road that would lead to Tops, Plácido turned left, however, back downtown towards the cheaper apartment complexes. Yusei hurried to catch up with him. He turned a corner, only to find him gone.

 _Where'd he go?_ Yusei wondered, looking around. Plácido had most definitely been there seconds earlier. He couldn't just have vanished in thin air, could he?

A hand shot out, pinning him against the wall before Yusei could react. He twisted and managed to land a kick into his attacker's side. No effect. Plácido glared down at him.

"You'd better not keep following me, Fudou Yusei," he hissed. Up close, he looked even worse. He hadn't just been stabbed through the stomach, but through his chest too, and one of the gaping holes had barely missed his neck. Whatever had attacked him, it had done a serious number on him. Not that it was helping Yusei any. Plácido had him pinned against the wall, feet barely touching the ground, and breathing was starting to get difficult.

"Leggo," he managed to say, using his right arm to break Plácido's grip. No use. If he'd had his duel disk right now, maybe he would've been able to actually hurt him, unless—

Yusei swung himself up, using Plácido's arms as support, and kicked him in the stomach, aiming for the spots where he'd already been stabbed. Plácido grunted in pain and let him go abruptly. Yusei didn't waste time. He was out of Plácido's reach before the other had recovered, this time fully prepared for any kind of attack.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked. Plácido got up again. Yusei glanced around. No one in this street. That was both a good and a bad thing. Plácido posed a very real danger to him, but on the other hand, if he'd known Bruno, and if he knew more about him, Yusei wanted to find out.

"I don't see how that concerns you," Plácido hissed. "You're lucky I don't have my sword."

He had a sword? Yusei switched his stance when Plácido straightened up fully, and for a moment, they just stared at each other, waiting for someone to make a move. Then Plácido moved, faster than Yusei had expected, but not fast enough — Yusei barely dodged a fist and jumped out of the way, again out of reach. Plácido was clearly far stronger than him, but with the damage that had been done to him, if he could just tire him out, have him waste his energy... Did it even work that way for androids? He was going to find out.

"You knew where they were, didn't you? Bruno and Paradox?" he asked. Plácido stepped forwards and Yusei immediately took a step back to compensate.

"Yeah, so? They're idiots. Should've killed you and your groupies when they had the chance."

Yusei glared. "Bruno wouldn't."

That didn't quite get him the reaction he'd expected. Plácido started laughing. Loudly, loud enough to attract the attention of anyone who might be nearby, and Yusei glanced around desperately. "You really believe that? Of course he would've. Wouldn't even be the first time."

 _What?_ Yusei took another step backwards, this time involuntarily. "What do you mean?"

"You really think this is the first timeline where we've run into your merry band? Your precious Bruno sure never hesitated about offing anyone. Dunno why they thought your death was such a bad thing that they had to undo it. I would've just left you to die."

"You're lying."

"Yes, you would like to believe that, wouldn't you? Face it, you're not immortal and Antinomy doesn't give a fuck about you."

Yusei clenched his hands into fists, sliding into an offensive stance on instinct. How dare he— Bruno would never— The Bruno he knew would never kill anyone, much less Yusei himself. The very idea was too ridiculous for words.

Plácido smiled almost pityingly. "All of us have blood on our hands, Fudou Yusei. Antinomy is no different. Or did you think you could reform him? Show him _kindness_ and _change_ him? Face it, he's no better than the rest of us and you can't do a thing about that—"

Yusei's fist found his face before he could finish that sentence. "You fucking liar," he hissed. Plácido only grinned up at him, smile razor-sharp. He didn't even look fazed when Yusei punched him again.

"You're too naive," Plácido said. "Wouldn't be the first time that's your downfall." He caught Yusei's third punch and punched him in the stomach, then tossed him aside as easily as one would a child. Yusei managed to keep his balance, but had to grab hold of the wall to keep standing. He coughed, clutching his stomach, and tried to straighten up before Plácido attacked again.

"But seeing as you're still being useful, I guess you get to live for now." Plácido announced, not even looking at him. "Who knows, maybe Antinomy will get the honors."

He left, tattered robes swishing around his legs. Yusei tried to follow him, but Plácido's last punch had left him gasping for breath, his stomach on fire. He was lying. He had to be lying. Bruno did care about him, and there was no way he'd just go around killing people. The Bruno he knew would never kill him either.

 _But did you ever really know him? If he cared, then why did he leave?_ A voice in his head whispered insidiously. Yusei resolutely blocked it out. There had to be another reason. Bruno had been angry with him, angry because Yusei'd said he was better than—

Better than his friends. Better than the people who Plácido had said had killed thousands. If Bruno hadn't wanted to be better than them, then— then that meant that Plácido—

 _He was right,_ the voice whispered again. _He wasn't lying, and you know it._

 **oOoOo**

In Crow's opinion, the next day didn't bode well. Jack had returned in a huff about two hours after he'd left and had then spent the next hour alternately complaining about Carly not letting him in and trying to call her. After five minutes, Crow had tuned him out. After ten minutes, Carly clearly had too, because that was when Jack started complaining about only getting a busy signal. He'd finally managed to convince Jack to try again the next day and gone to bed. He hadn't heard Yusei come back during the night, but he must have had at some point, because the next day Crow found him down in the garage, idly toying around with a laptop. He'd unscrewed the back panel and removed the hard drive. What he was going to do with it, Crow didn't bother to ask. This was stress therapy for Yusei.

"Where've you been?" he asked.

"Around," Yusei said. He dropped a screw and swore, diving under the table to retrieve it. "Don't worry, I haven't been to Tops."

"Well, wanna go now?" he suggested. It was already past nine. They'd have no trouble getting in.

Yusei hit his head on the underside of the table, swore again, and emerged with the missing screw, looking strangely reluctant. "I want to finish up here first," he said. Crow raised his eyebrows. He'd barely been able to stop Yusei yesterday, and now he suddenly didn't want to go?

"Did something happen last night?" he asked, hoisting himself up on the table where Yusei was working. "Actually, did you even sleep at all?"

"No."

"Is that a 'No, nothing happened' or 'No, I didn't sleep'?"

"Yes." Yusei reinserted the hard drive and turned the laptop around, booting it up without screwing on the back panel again. Crow was going to assume Yusei knew what he was doing and that this wouldn't end up with them having to get a new laptop.

"Right, well, if you're not going, check on Blackbird for me, will you? It's making some funny noises."

Yusei looked away from the screen, alarmed. "You're going?"

"Yeah, of course," Crow gave an exaggerated shrug. "But I guess, if you don't wanna—"

"I'll come," Yusei said quickly. He abandoned the laptop entirely and got up.

"Cool. I'll get Jack." He jumped off the table with a grin. Still had it. He would've gone anyway, because dammit, he was curious, but he'd had more than enough of the moping Yusei of the past couple of weeks. It'd cost them their first match, for god's sake!

Jack was moping as well, but the promise of finding Bruno and Paradox and possibly getting to hit them seemed more than incentive enough, which was how Crow found himself at the eastern gates of Tops an hour later. The guard on duty recognized them and waved them through without asking anything. Sometimes it paid to have friends in high places.

"Right, sixty-four...," Crow counted the buildings, "sixty-five... Geez, this place is massive. What was it again?"

"Seventy-two," Yusei said immediately. "Fourth floor, 405."

"Right." He looked around. Jack was the first to spot the building they needed, half hidden away behind the sixties row. Why did they have to make everything so difficult?

The building itself confronted them with an additional challenge, when the door required a code to get in. Tops people sure were paranoid. Yusei frowned at the keyboard.

"Only so many combinations, right?" Jack said. Yusei kept on frowning.

"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine," he replied. "Could be anything. If I had a computer I could just brute-force it, but—"

"You're thinking stupid again. Let me." Crow elbowed him out of the way and eyed the keyboard. 0000 would be too obvious even for the rich kids. On the other hand, it'd have to be something the inhabitants of the building could remember even when they got home drunk off their asses. This was one of the systems that really didn't offer any protection. They'd let you retry as many times as you wanted. Theoretically, they could even input all nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine combinations, one by one, but Crow really didn't feel like doing that.

"What's the code for Rua and Ruka again?"

"4348," Yusei replied.

Forty-three was their building. Then what was the forty-eight? Crow's eyes wandered to the elevator. He watched as the numbers pinged down to the seventh floor, then stopped there.

"Ah, got it." He grinned and keyed in 7220. The door unlocked. "Come on."

Number of the building and number of floors. It shouldn't have been that easy to figure out. Tops clearly relied on the security at the gates to keep any unwanted visitors out. They trudged inside and entered the elevator, where Yusei pressed the number four. Jack tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator doors slid shut.

"They'd better be there," he muttered. Crow grimaced. It was nearing ten o'clock. It would not be surprising if they weren't around, and between an angry Jack and distracted Yusei, he didn't really fancy spending hours waiting for them. The elevator reached the fourth floor and the doors slid open noiselessly. Jack was out before they'd opened fully, followed by Yusei. Crow sighed and followed at a more sedate pace. By the time he arrived at room 405, Jack had already rung the buzzer and was now knocking on the door.

"Cool it, they're not gonna jump out of the window if they see us coming," he told Jack. The door opened to Mizoguchi. Right. That was an added complication. If Mizoguchi decided they weren't getting in, they'd have a hell of a time getting through that door.

"Can I help you?" he asked, looking them over.

"Yes, I'd—" Yusei started. "I'd like to talk to Sherry."

Mizoguchi frowned at them. "Just a moment."

And he shut the door on them again. Crow sighed. What a mess.

"He'll have to let us in, right?" Yusei asked. Jack stared at the door as if it'd personally insulted him.

"I'll make him if he doesn't," Jack said. Crow desperately hoped Sherry would be charitable enough to let them in. He shifted from one foot to the other. This better be worth it. He had half a mind to follow Jack's example and shout at Bruno and Paradox until he was hoarse.

"Milady has agreed to see you," Mizoguchi said, reappearing in the doorway.

"Thanks," Crow muttered as Jack and Yusei moved past him. Sherry was sitting on the sofa in what was a more spacious living room than he'd expected, engrossed in an old paper newspaper. She barely even looked up when they came in.

"What do you want?"

"Actually," Yusei began. He looked around. "I was hoping to talk to your teammate. Timothy Kant?"

"Timothy?" Sherry still didn't look up, but there was a note of faked surprise in her voice that told Crow she was well aware of his real identity. "And why is that?"

Yusei bit his lip. "I met him once. He told me something about a new dueling style, but didn't elaborate at the time. I'd like to know more."

"Accel Synchro," Sherry said. She folded the paper carefully and put it down on the small table in front of her. "And what makes you think he'd tell you? After all, we are on rival teams right now."

Yusei faltered. He finally settled for, "Can I please just talk to him?"

Sherry looked the three of them over. Finally she shook her head and got up. "I'm guessing you're not going to leave before you do, huh?"

"Hell no," Jack said. Mizoguchi, standing on the side, looked quietly amused. He and Sherry exchanged a look, then Sherry turned around abruptly and left the room.

"Why don't you sit down?" Mizoguchi said. There had to be an art to going from threatening to perfectly hospitable in less than a minute. Crow reluctantly did as he said. Jack and Yusei remained standing.

"Good morning," Timothy Kant — Bruno — said. He entered the room, followed by Sherry. He was still wearing sunglasses, even indoors, but now that Crow knew what to look for, it was hard to miss that he and Bruno were one and the same person. He turned towards Yusei. "Sherry said you wanted to know more about Accel Synchro."

"Yes." Yusei looked at Crow and Jack. They both nodded. "Ah, can we talk outside?"

The looks between Sherry, Mizoguchi and Bruno spoke volumes. Finally Bruno grimaced. "Alright," he said. "Let's talk."

 **oOoOo**

"So, Accel Synchro, you said?"

Yusei closed the door behind him, but not before catching Jack's mouthed, 'good luck'. He nodded in thanks. He was going to need it to get through this conversation.

"Yeah." He glanced at Bruno. How had he missed this? How had he ever missed seeing that Timothy Kant was Bruno and how had he ever missed that Bruno was the mysterious duelist who'd showed him Accel Synchro? He wished he'd take his sunglasses off already. They were getting on his nerves. They were hiding Bruno's eyes.

They reached the elevator and Yusei hit the 'down' button with a bit more force than strictly necessary. Bruno seemed perfectly content standing around in silence. The elevator doors opened noiselessly and they walked in. Yusei waited until the the doors had closed before speaking again.

"Why did you never tell me about it afterwards?" he asked, careful to keep his voice level, to make it sound like an honest question and not the accusation he wanted it to be.

"I did believe you were rather busy with the WRGP. As were we," Bruno said. His voice was almost entirely monotone. And Yusei had had more than enough of it.

"Just stop it," he snapped.

"I'm sorry?" Bruno said. He did politely confused very well.

"Stop lying to us _._ "

"I have no idea what you're talk—"

" _Bruno, stop it._ " Yusei slammed his hand against the wall of the elevator, just as they reached the ground floor and the doors slid open. "We know, all right? We know." He took a deep breath. "So please, _stop lying._ "

Bruno reeled back, looking like he'd been struck in the face. Even with those stupid sunglasses, Yusei still saw him glance at the now-open elevator door.

"And don't run either," he added, planting himself in the door opening. Bruno was biting his lip, considering, and Yusei tensed, stopping the elevator doors with one hand as they started to slide shut again. Was he really going to try to attack him? Not Bruno, surely? But if Plácido had been right, if he had...

"All right," Bruno said suddenly. He finally took off those sunglasses, and Yusei just wanted to look at him, just take him in after all these weeks. Bruno was here. He was really here.

"Let's walk," he suggested. Bruno nodded, still biting the inside of his cheek, and for a moment, Yusei thought he was still going to run after all. But he didn't, only followed Yusei out of the elevator and through the exit of the building in silence.

"How'd you find out?" he asked when they were passing a small pond. All the benches around it were taken by what looked like a knitting group. Too bad.

"Carly found out. She... found a picture." Yusei took out his phone, found the picture, and wordlessly handed it to Bruno.

"That's when we put two and two together," he said. He stopped when he realized Bruno wasn't following anymore and abruptly turned around, but Bruno wasn't running, only staring at his phone, mouth drawn in a tight line. He closed his eyes for a long moment, then handed the phone back to Yusei.

"I see," he only said.

"Paradox is your backbencher, isn't he?" Yusei said, desperate for a change of subject. Maybe reminding Bruno of his sister, the one they'd argued about in the first place, hadn't exactly been his best idea ever. But Bruno didn't look angry, at least not the way he'd looked the last time they'd really spoken. He just looked resigned.

"Yes," he said.

"Does she even know— Sherry, I mean," he began to say. Bruno cut him off immediately.

"She knows enough to know what she's getting herself into," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "And if you're worried about that, you can take it up with Sherry herself."

"How've you been?" Yusei asked. Really, he just wanted to ask Bruno to come back, to let them help him. He'd even put up with Paradox if he had to.

"Good. I mean," Bruno began, "yeah, good. Roof above our head, that's always nice."

 _You've got one with us,_ Yusei wanted to say. He didn't.

"And dueling. I'm pretty happy about that part. Well," he grimaced, "if Sherry would let me."

"I haven't seen you duel yet," Yusei said. He hadn't really been keeping up with Team Chevalier's matches, even though he'd vaguely decided before that he should. Now that he knew that Bruno was on their team, he was already itching to go back and rewatch all their previous matches.

"Probably because I haven't actually dueled yet. Sherry just keeps beating everyone. It's boring!" he said, and Yusei laughed. Being able to talk to Bruno like this, without the terrible tension from before, was so much better.

"What about you?" Bruno asked. "I saw your match against Unicorn. What happened?"

Yusei cringed. Not exactly his best moment. He looked for the best words and finally settled for, "I was... Distracted."

Jean had accused him of not paying attention to the duel, and of not taking his opponents seriously and being a hypocrite after all his talk about fun and respect. Really, he'd been too distracted thinking about where Bruno himself was, and how they were going to find him in the middle of the WRGP, when they had so many matches to deal with. But telling that to Bruno now, when he was standing right in front of him, finally?

"I'm sorry to hear that." Bruno walked up next to him. "Aki was really good, though."

"She trained with Crow," Yusei said. "I don't know what they did, but you should've seen her D-Wheel when they got back. I honestly thought I wasn't going to get it fixed up in time before the match."

Bruno winced. "That bad? What did they do?" he asked.

"Paintjob, for one, but that was the least of it. I'm surprised they actually made it back to the garage that day, because her engine was pretty much busted. I thought I was going to have to replace it, the state it was in. Completely clogged with all kinds of stuff that really shouldn't have made it in there in the first place. _Leaves,_ for goodness' sake."

"Leaves?" Bruno repeated, puzzled. "How do you get leaves in there?"

"Not the faintest clue." Yusei smiled up at him. They were actually talking, properly talking. "I did manage to save the engine in the end."

"Did you upgrade it?"

"Yeah. I was working on it anyway, so I figured I might as well."

"Good." Bruno fell silent again. They walked side by side through the lanes of Tops. Cars didn't come here, unless they were delivery trucks, and they only passed one on their way. Tops was a community that had been kept artificially peaceful, a haven away from the city for all the people who had enough money to afford it.

"I talked to Yugi-san," Yusei said, for lack of anything better to say. Bruno's steps faltered briefly, and now that he wasn't wearing his sunglasses, Yusei could easily see how his eyes flitted from side to side, suddenly vigilant, as if the few people out would be interested in their conversation at all. There was an empty bench under a small group of trees, mostly hidden away from view, and Yusei put a tentative hand on his arm to guide him there.

"There's nothing wrong with Momentum as it stands now," he said once they'd sat down, very carefully not touching. "It's running exactly as it should, so I don't really see..."

"No, it's Momentum," Bruno said. "I know you don't want it to be, but I'm sorry, it is. That's pretty much the only thing we're completely sure of."

Yusei sighed. He didn't want to get into another argument, not now, but the files his parents had given him didn't lie. Ever since Zero Reverse, Momentum had been running exactly within the parameters they'd specified. That data was even public; he'd been able to go through it with his parents' work next to it, and nothing had pointed towards any anomalies at all.

"I'll look through it again," he conceded, "but really, nothing looks abnormal."

"There's going to be. Soon enough." Bruno kicked a pebble away. There hadn't been any force behind the kick; the pebble only made it a meter or so. "If we just knew what caused it..."

"You don't know? So then you're not sure about Momentum?" Yusei said. All this time, he'd assumed they had some kind of conclusive evidence about Momentum being the culprit, but if they didn't, that meant Momentum might not be the problem at all!

"No, it's Momentum. Really." Bruno looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry. What we don't know is what caused Momentum to go out of control."

Yusei held his gaze for several long seconds, until Bruno flushed and turned away. "Anyway, yeah, it's Momentum," he said quickly.

"Everything is still as it should be," Yusei insisted. "Look, I'll scan those files for you." Without the note his mother had written, of course. "You can see for yourself."

Bruno's reply was interrupted when one of the security guards found them sitting under the trees. He eyed Yusei warily and looked back at Bruno. "I'm sorry, might I see your visitor's passes, please?" he asked.

"I'm a resident," Bruno replied coldly. "Timothy Kant, seventy-two, four-oh-five."

That seemed to match up with whatever information the man had stored in his tablet. "Your, uh, friend?" he asked.

"Fudou Yusei. His team is here by invitation of mine." If possible, Bruno's voice grew even colder. Yusei put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head while the man was confirming that. It wasn't worth getting worked up over.

"My apologies." The guard nodded at both of them and disappeared as quickly as he'd come. Yusei sighed and slumped.

"The nerve," Bruno was muttering. He looked far more offended on Yusei's behalf than Yusei himself felt. Yusei shrugged.

"Eh, I've heard worse. He's just doing his job."

"I'm surprised he didn't even recognize you."

"I can't expect everyone in the city to know me." He shuddered. He wouldn't even want to. Leave the fame to Jack; he could do without it. "Anyway, it's not new. 'Those Satelliters get to go everywhere and Security's too scared to do anything about them,' you know. Stuff like that. Don't know where they get it from because Security never had any trouble with us before."

Or 'They get unemployment benefits without ever having worked because everyone's afraid of getting beat up,' or, 'You got to watch out for the kids, they'll make off with your stuff before you know it.' Yusei had heard several versions.

"Bad feelings all around," he said, resigned. "But that's what the WRGP is for, right? So we can actually make it better."

"Bad feelings," Bruno repeated, suddenly very pale. He jumped up, and Yusei hurriedly followed. "Sorry, I need to go check on something really fast. Maybe it's just false alarm."

"Hey, hold up." Yusei hurried after him. "I can help."

"It's just an idea, that's all. It's probably nothing," Bruno insisted. "Don't worry about it."

Yusei closed his eyes for a second. "Bruno, please. Don't do this."

Bruno stopped walking, and for a moment they just looked at each other. Then Bruno put his hands on Yusei's shoulders.

"If it's anything, I'll let you know, I promise. I just want to be sure first." He smiled hesitantly. "Okay? I... I would like those files, I think. Just e-mail me, I'll get it."

No one was having a particularly good track record with keeping promises lately. Could he really believe that Bruno would actually trust him this time around? What was keeping him from just disappearing again?

"If it's anything, I'll tell you. Promise." He dropped his hands, and Yusei shivered against the sudden cold. He didn't want to agree to this. He didn't want to leave Bruno or Paradox on their own, with Sherry, who wasn't even fully aware of what was going on. Was she?

"You could come back," he said. Bruno shook his head.

"You know I won't. Besides, I like this. I get to duel."

"You could—" Yusei started. Bruno immediately interrupted him.

"Could what? I'm not going to take your place, or Jack or Crow's, and I seriously don't want to sit around anymore. Sorry, Yusei." He fidgeted. "I have to go. If it's anything, I will tell you somehow."

 **oOoOo**

He had to be wrong.

He waited for the laptop to boot up, trying to will away the terrible feeling that had settled in his stomach. He couldn't be right. If he was, then everything they'd done—

The laptop finished turning on, and he quickly opened the files he needed, glancing around as he did so. Yusei, Jack and Crow were gone, the latter two apparently kicked out by Mizoguchi. Sherry had left herself, and Paradox was... Somewhere. He didn't know. He didn't really care either, not right now.

The data he'd already gathered were familiar, comforting, something he could hold on to to prove — or disprove — any theory. For the first time, he really hoped that this one wouldn't mean anything, that it was just another dead end like so many others. He paused, fingers poised above the keyboard, then gritted his teeth and started typing. First simulation. One he'd run a hundred times before, and the outcome was no different this time. That much was comforting. He adjusted the parameters. No marked change in outcome.

He took a deep breath before trying his new theory. This was... Perhaps the biggest gamble he'd taken since they'd traveled through time for the first time, with no way of knowing what was going to happen or whether they wouldn't just end up erasing themselves from time and stop existing altogether. That had been a gamble that had paid off. This one— This one hopefully wouldn't.

A screen flashed, announcing that the simulation was running. He shoved the laptop away and closed his eyes. It was going to be fine. Somehow, everything was going to be just fine and he'd get to tell Yusei that it had been false alarm and that he'd just been making up things. All fine. Because if it wasn't, then there was only one solution left for them, one he had been trying to avoid at all costs.

The laptop pinged. He steeled himself and opened his eyes to study the new data that the program had whipped up. The outcome of the simulation was very different now. All the values representing time had lowered, putting the explosion of Neo Domino's Momentum reactor far earlier than any previous simulation had come up with. It was also the right date. The program had calculated the right date to within a month, solely based on this hunch he'd just had, this terrible terrible hunch that was now, without a doubt, true.

It meant he couldn't ever tell Yusei about it. It meant that everything they'd ever worked for had been worthless.

It also meant the end of the world. And there was nothing, nothing they could do about it.

END OF ACT TWO

* * *

 **Next chapter:** We take another break to look at some first meetings.


	12. Intermission II: Future History

**Intermission II: Future History**

 **9 July 2043**

One of the few facilities still standing in Neo Domino owed its continued survival to being built underground. The Machine Emperors had obliterated its few aboveground floors, but Z-one still managed to locate the place with surprising accuracy. He seemed confused about it when Antinomy asked, but the underground facility promised rest and respite, so Antinomy wasn't about to prod too hard.

The owner of the place, Ms. Leblanc, came to greet them personally, but she did not look happy with their arrival. "We lost the Nara facility," she told Z-one with a forced smile. "I was lucky to be here at the time. We have about fifty people down there now. A couple of high school kids too, I think. The people from Nara brought them along." She fell silent and studied Z-one. "Why did you come here, Yusei?"

"I'm not Fudou Yusei."

Ms. Leblanc looked supremely unimpressed. "All right, enlighten me. Who are you if not Fudou Yusei?"

"Z-one."

If anything, Ms. Leblanc looked even less impressed than before. "Should I choose another name as well? What is your real name then?"

"Zachary O'Neill."

"Zachary— Oh my god, you're serious." Ms. Leblanc threw up her hands in frustration. "That was a pseudonym, Yusei. You told me yourself you picked it because you didn't want to publish papers under your own name."

"I'm not Fudou Yusei," Z-one repeated petulantly. Ms. Leblanc sighed and turned around. "Memory loss?" she asked Antinomy. Antinomy shrugged helplessly. Z-one said he wasn't Fudou Yusei, but on the other hand…

"Come on, Yusei. We'll be safer downstairs. You too, kid." Ms. Leblanc led the way to a heavily-protected entrance and punched in a long series of codes. The door opened. She let them enter first and then closed it again behind them. "Obviously the security is pointless," she said with a sigh. "The Machine Emperors can blast through it in a matter of minutes. But it makes people feel better." She looked back at Antinomy. "Look, kid— What's your name?"

"Antinomy," Z-one said in his place. Ms. Leblanc sighed.

"At least he has the right age for stupid pseudonyms. Okay, kid—"

"I'm nineteen," Antinomy said testily. He'd as good as graduated high school a year ago, for goodness' sake. He was a Pro Duelist!

"Good for you. Why don't you go down? There's a kitchen on the floor below this one. Get yourself some coffee. I need to talk to Z-one in private."

Antinomy thought about protesting, but Z-one shook his head. Alright then. Best to leave them alone to talk about whatever it was they had to talk. Besides, he hadn't had coffee since Tokyo.

He suppressed the stab of guilt he felt when he thought of Tokyo and headed down. The kitchen Ms. Leblanc had told him about was empty aside from a few lab workers who didn't spare him a second look. Refugees were common everywhere. Antinomy located the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. The other people in the room were talking about the central Momentum generator, the one that had gone out of control, and Antinomy found himself listening in. It was a conversation he'd heard — and even participated in — several times over. This one was a bit more technical, but the essence was the same: How did it happen? Why did no one see it coming? And how were they going to fix this? The lab workers didn't have any answers. No one did.

Antinomy idly sipped from his cup and wondered what Z-one and Ms. Leblanc were talking about. Z-one had been insistent that he wasn't Fudou Yusei from the start, but Ms. Leblanc seemed convinced that he was. He didn't know who to believe. Did it even really matter right now?

One of the advantages of being underground was that the buildings were far less likely to be attacked and collapse. One of the disadvantages was that if they did collapse, they became a death trap. The first explosion occurred on the other side of the compound, too far away to harm Antinomy and the people with him, but the panic that spread through the building was immediate.

"Evacuate!" someone shouted. Antinomy sprinted for the stairs, mind in turmoil. Where was Z-one? How had the Machine Emperors found them? They were barely sentient, certainly not smart enough to discover an underground hideout!

A second explosion, much closer now, made the stairs collapse before he could reach them. He pulled back the person in front of him, just in time to avoid getting hit by a chunk of the ceiling. Up was out of the question now, so down, down, hoping there was a place strong enough to withstand the collapse of the building.

The fourth floor down was nearly deserted when he reached it. He'd lost the people with him somewhere along the way; he could only hope they'd made it to safety. This floor was a lab floor and Antinomy spotted a sturdy table not too far from the door. He grabbed it and shoved it against the wall, then crawled underneath it himself. The earthquake drills from school were incredibly useful now.

"You're ruining my work!" an angry voice said just as another explosion rocked the building. The ceiling cracked dangerously and Antinomy grabbed the other person and pulled him under the table with him.

"We have other things to worry about!" he shouted, vaguely aware of the note of hysteria in his voice. Strange. Just a month ago he'd been ready to die, but now he just wanted to live.

"Stop that!" the other person hissed. "You really suck at this, don't you?"

Antinomy finally turned to look at him. It was a boy, no older than sixteen, with shoulder-length blond hair and almost yellow eyes. This had to be one of the high schoolers from Nara that Ms. Leblanc had mentioned. Antinomy distantly wondered if the purple streaks were natural and then realized that the boy was still glaring at him.

"I'm Antinomy," he said to break the ice. The boy managed to look almost as utterly unimpressed as Ms. Leblanc.

"Antinomy? You're actually serious?"

"I am." Why did people always doubt that? Sure, it wasn't his real name, but who went around giving out their real name in this world anyway?

"Alright, fine, whatever," the kid said. "Then I'm Paradox."

Whatever else he was going to say next was drowned out by the ceiling collapsing. They both curled in on themselves, earthquake training kicking in, but the doorway held. Antinomy coughed through the dust and Paradox wordlessly handed him a handkerchief, using the sleeve of his lab coat to breathe through.

"Thanks," Antinomy said after the dust had somewhat cleared away. A large part of the ceiling had collapsed, carrying with it the remains of the higher floors, but their makeshift hideout had held.

"You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Paradox remarked, eyeing Antinomy's riding suit. "Don't you have anything else to wear? We're not in a riding duel, y'know."

"It's good for running!" Antinomy defended. He was really starting to get annoyed. Paradox was just a teenager, for crying out loud!

"Anyone down there?" someone shouted.

"Here!"

"Anyone hurt?"

"We're fine!"

"Alright, sit tight, we'll come for you soon! How many of you are down there?"

"Two!" Paradox shouted. Antinomy settled back and listened to the sound of rescue workers clearing the rubble. They weren't a priority now. The important thing was to get the wounded out before the Machine Emperors returned.

"So you're here from Nara?" Antinomy asked. Might as well kill some time.

"How'd you know?"

"Ms. Leblanc said so." Besides, Paradox's accent gave him away. "How old are you?" he asked when Paradox didn't seem inclined to say anything more.

"Turning sixteen." Paradox stared at his hands. "Look, I don't want to make small talk. I just want to get out of here and find somewhere to be safe and not think about all of this."

"I don't think there are any safe places left," Antinomy whispered.

"Do you think I don't know that? At least let me pretend." Paradox trailed off. "If this place closes, I have nowhere to go."

Another orphan. For a second Antinomy thought about mom and dad and Erika and clenched his eyes shut. He wasn't going to cry here.

"I'm sure there's somewhere," he said. It failed to reassure Paradox. It failed to reassure himself.

They waited in silence, listening to the sound of rubble being cleared. There were no sirens anymore. Loud noises invariably attracted the Machine Emperors, and a lot of people had met their ends inside an ambulance. Not that there had been many working ambulances left in the first place. Fuel and electricity were hard to come by.

A chunk of stone hit the table and they both flinched.

"Okay down there?"

"Careful!" Antinomy shouted.

Finally the rescue workers made it down to where they'd been hiding and helped them out. Antinomy blinked as daylight reached them. The entire complex was in ruins and he didn't want to know how many people were still buried under the rubble. Where was Z-one? He and Ms. Leblanc had been on the floor closest to the surface when they'd been attacked. What if they were—

"Who are you looking for?" Paradox asked. Antinomy had expected him to disappear the moment they reached the surface, but he'd stuck around.

"A friend. He was talking with Ms. Leblanc when I last saw him, but they were on the highest floor…" Antinomy grimaced. Paradox frowned.

"If he was with Ms. Leblanc, he might have made it out. She has all kinds of escape systems installed around the building."

Antinomy scanned the place, looking at the huddled groups of survivors and people setting up defense systems to fend off any returning Machine Emperors.

"Antinomy!"

Antinomy turned around at the sound of the familiar voice and slumped in relief. Z-one. He ran towards him and Ms. Leblanc. Paradox followed once more.

"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Z-one asked, his one visible eye wide. Antinomy smiled.

"We're fine, don't worry."

"Where were you?"

"Down in the chemistry lab," Paradox replied. Ms. Leblanc frowned.

"That far down? How did you get there?"

"The stairs collapsed. I had to keep going down," Antinomy explained.

"He used my worktable to hide," Paradox added.

"Are you interning with us?" Ms. Leblanc asked Paradox, studying him. Paradox shifted uncomfortably.

"Not really, Ms. Leblanc, but the people in the labs let me help out."

Ms. Leblanc nodded appraisingly. "You must know your stuff if they let you. What's your name?"

Paradox hesitated and glanced at Antinomy. Then he said: "Paradox."

"Why does everyone need pseudonyms?" Ms. Leblanc lamented. She looked at the ruined facility. "I suppose your files are long gone now. Do you have anywhere to go?"

"No, Ms. Leblanc." Paradox sounded rather choked up and Antinomy tried to put a hand on his shoulder. Paradox shrugged it off. Ms. Leblanc's demeanor softened.

"You can stay with me for now. You two as well," she said. "There's an old place my family owned near Shizuoka. I've received word that it's still standing and we can harbor a lot of people there."

"We'd be grateful," Z-one said. Antinomy and Paradox nodded.

"That's settled then." Ms. Leblanc let out a deep sigh. "Come on, let's see what we can do. We have a lot of work ahead of us."

* * *

 **Next chapter:** It takes a lot/To be always on form/It takes a lot


	13. XI - Rose Petals

**XI. Rose Petals**

Week two in the hospital was proving to be every bit as boring as week one. Her pleas to be released had fallen to deaf ears; no one wanted to take the risk after she'd been in a coma for almost two days. By now, Aki had come to know most of the nurses and doctors on shift. Her parents had assured her that all of them had been vetted before they got near her, but that didn't change the fact that most of them were thoroughly unpleasant. The nurse who'd been there when she'd woken up fortunately only did early-morning rounds, but after an incompetent intern and a know-it-all assistant, Aki was desperate for some visitors. Crow had been by briefly, right before his own doctor's appointment to check on his arm. According to him, Jack and Yusei were out on an impromptu trip to visit Bommer. Aki sighed. How she wished she could've gone along. If nothing else, she wished they'd told her personally, instead of letting Crow serve as their messenger. Couldn't be helped, Crow had assured her. It had been an urgent call and they'd had to leave immediately.

With Crow gone and Rua and Ruka in school, she wasn't expecting any visitors until later in the evening, when her parents would get off work and drop by. Thank goodness Mama had brought her laptop last week. The internet connection in the hospital was choppy at best, but at least it gave her something to do. She had finally been able to watch the match against Team Catastrophe. A good thing they'd ended up disqualified, but she wondered how the second round of the tournament would go now that only Team 5D's would move on. Team Unicorn was in no condition to participate in the tournament after their disastrous match against Team Catastrophe.

Something pink was stubbornly floating in the corner of her eye. A trick of the light? Aki blinked but it didn't go away. In fact, it seemed to be moving across the room towards the door. Aki had a brief memory of her conversation with Ruka last week, but it couldn't be. She was only getting her hopes up for something that wasn't going to happen anyway—

Someone knocked on her door. The nurses here never knocked.

"Come in!" Aki called. The pink shape disappeared as soon as she moved her head. Of course. A trick of the light after all.

The door opened slowly. Aki sat up straighter, her frown deepening. Definitely not a nurse.

"Uh, hey, Aki?"

Aki's eyes widened. "Bruno?!"

Because it was definitely Bruno standing in the doorway, clutching his right arm uncomfortably. His hair was messier than usual, but other than that, he looked almost exactly like when she'd last seen him.

"What are you doing here?"

Bruno flinched at the coldness in her voice. Good. She hadn't quite forgiven him yet for abandoning the team.

"I'm sorry, I…" He took a deep breath. "I saw you crash. I wanted to know if you were okay."

"I am."

"Right…" Bruno took a step back. "I'm glad to hear it. I'll just be going and—"

He trailed off, one foot already outside the door again. Aki sighed. She supposed she had kind of missed him.

"Just come in and sit down already," she said. "You'll be scaring the nurses."

Bruno lowered his head and smiled. He straightened up just a bit and finally entered the room fully. "I'm pretty sure they're scarier than I am," he said, taking a seat at the tiny table that was already covered with flowers. Aki snorted. Time traveler versus hospital staff? She wouldn't bet on him.

"You've been getting a lot of visitors," Bruno said, eyes flickering over the many cards gathered on her windowsill and pausing briefly at the unsigned card whose sender she still didn't know.

"Most of these are from Mama and Papa's business partners." Aki bit her lip. So many of them had seen her accident as an ideal opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the Izayoi family. Aki detested the men and women who showed up at her bed every day. They invariably treated her like a little child, except for the few who deigned to remember her past and saw fit to treat her as a disturbed woman instead, complete with flinching whenever she made a sudden movement. One woman had none-too-subtly told Mama and Papa that they had to be so happy now that their daughter was 'normal' again.

She could really do without those visitors.

Another glimpse of pink caught her eye, and she realized she'd looked down. Bruno was fiddling with the edge of his T-shirt. He stopped when he noticed her looking and crossed his arms.

"I watched your match against Team Unicorn," he said. Aki looked away again. She'd trained so hard for that one and she'd still lost. She'd barely been on the field. And then after Catastrophe… By the time she got out of the hospital, Crow would be ready to take her place again. What use was she now?

"You were really good," Bruno finished.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I mean, you've never used a D-Wheel in a tournament but you were handling it like a pro. With some more practice, you could go a pretty long way."

Some of the weight she'd been carrying lifted. Bruno had been a Pro Duelist, right? So coming from him, that was a pretty good compliment. "Thanks," she said. Bruno smiled tentatively. He too looked like he felt more confident now. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Bruno said. His smile turned strained. Aki frowned.

"You sure?"

Bruno nodded. Aki stared at him, but he didn't say anything else.

"So you're staying with Sherry?"

"Yeah. Yusei told you?"

"Crow did. Paradox is still around, then?"

Bruno smiled. This time it looked more genuine, if still strained. "Yeah. It's good to have him back. I didn't realize it, but I missed him a lot."

Aki raised an eyebrow. She couldn't imagine anyone willingly spending much time around Paradox, with his abrasive personality and tendency to casually threaten to murder them. Bruno grinned.

"I had almost a hundred years to get used to him. You can't take Yusei and Jack and Crow apart either, can you?"

"Fair enough." Aki leaned back against her pillow. Bruno moved in his chair.

"If you want me to leave, I'll—"

"Actually, Bruno," Aki said. "Can I ask you a question?"

Bruno nodded his assent.

"You were a Pro Duelist, right? I… Why did you duel?"

"Why did I duel?" Bruno sat up straighter. "Wow, it's been a while since anyone asked me that. I think… It's been a long time since I dueled for fun, but back then, I loved everything about duel monsters." He grinned and as he said it, Aki caught the flash of pink again. "I was such a big fan of you guys."

"Wait, we dueled?" Aki herself had been a duelist in that bad future?

"Oh yeah! I remember you and Yusei being on a team, and Crow managed his own team. Actually, my biggest rival in the Pros was a member of Crow's team."

Crow as a a manager… Aki could see that. He was very good at helping people. Bruno's face fell a bit.

"I don't know what happened to them, but I guess they never made it out. Hikari and I didn't really get along at the time, but she was a great duelist. I wish she and the others had made it back home."

"Hikari?"

"Yeah. She ran one of those Ice Barrier decks. Lethal, I swear."

"No but, Hikari? Crow's kid?"

Bruno paused, and Aki saw realization dawn. "The blue-haired girl? Oh wow, you're right, she is Hikari! I never realized that!" He shook his head. "Small world."

If Hikari had been Bruno's rival in the Pro Leagues, that meant they had to be around the same age right now. If Bruno had been nineteen when Neo Domino City got destroyed… Aki had to ask.

"Bruno, when exactly… When exactly did the Machine Emperors appear?"

Bruno looked away, out of the window at the hospital garden, where a lone duck was idly swimming in the tiny pond. "Hikari was a year older than I was at the time," he said. Aki had to strain to hear him. "She's seven now, isn't she?"

Crow had talked about his kids only a few days ago. Kokoro had turned five and asked for a pony for her birthday, something Crow hadn't been able to provide. He'd mentioned Hikari's birthday being next month and that he'd have to ask Yusei for help with the duel disk she wanted… "Next month. She's turning seven next month."

Bruno lowered his head. "She'll be twenty when she dies."

Aki did some quick math. "Thirteen years?" She'd known it wouldn't be centuries, but thirteen years? She'd only be thirty by then! "But there's got to be something to stop it, right?"

Bruno didn't reply.

"If you'd just let us help… Bruno, whatever Yusei said, I'm sure he didn't mean it—"

Bruno laughed bitterly. "No, that's the problem. He did mean it and he probably thought he was being helpful. Imagine… What if someone told you that you're too good for your friends because… I dunno, you don't have a criminal marker so you obviously couldn't have ever done anything wrong?"

"But I did do—"

"So did I," Bruno said. "But Yusei has this image of me, that I never did any of the things Paradox did." He sighed. "He's wrong, and telling me that the people I've known for so long are awful people while I'm not?"

"I… Guess I understand." She didn't, not entirely, but she understood why Bruno had reacted as strongly as he had. On the other hand, she couldn't imagine the Bruno they'd met all those months ago going to the extremes Paradox had. Aki studied him. His eyes were shadowed, and the way he held himself was more rigid, more tense than she'd ever seen him before. This Bruno? … Maybe she could see it.

But running off to god-knows-where and not letting them help? Despite everything, she'd thought they were better friends than that. He had come to visit her, hadn't he?

"If you need help, are you going to tell us at all?" she asked. Bruno refused to meet her eyes. He hadn't looked at her directly since he'd come in. Aki sighed. Fine.

The flash of pink was back in the corner of her eyes. Aki shook her head violently, but when she looked up, it was still there, hovering somewhere near Bruno's head. Bruno looked up at the abrupt movement.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing, just… been seeing things."

He sat up straighter. "Like what?"

"Something pink. It's been bugging me since right before you came in." She sighed. "'S probably just my head. I had a concussion when I was brought in."

She waited for Bruno to agree with her and dismiss her concerns, but instead he frowned and took out his deck. "Weird question maybe, but can you see monster spirits?"

How did he know that was what she'd been wondering about all this time? "Sometimes I think— You don't think I've been seeing spirits?"

Bruno fished a card out of his deck and got up, holding it out to her. She accepted it reluctantly. 'T.G. Wonder Magician', the card read. She recognized the monster from his long-ago duel against Yusei. The shade of pink… It was the same shade of pink she'd been seeing. She looked up at Bruno, face askance.

"I know she hangs around sometimes," Bruno said by way of explanation.

"You can see spirits?!" How could he not have told them? He'd lived with them for so long, how could they never have noticed?

"Oh, no no no!" Bruno shook his head. "I'm completely blind. Haven't seen a spirit by myself in my life. But I know the Tech Genus have been hanging around me. Paradox… Paradox and someone else told me."

"Paradox can see spirits?" Aki still wasn't placated.

"He can't either. But he's psychic, you know?"

"Wait, Paradox is a psychic duelist?" Of all people, Paradox had to be like her? It had been so many months since she'd encountered a real psychic, and the first one she had to meet after Arcadia just had to be Paradox?

"Yeah, didn't you know that?"

"No! That's kind of important information, Bruno!"

Bruno grimaced. "I thought you knew. How else do you think he summoned those monsters to… Well, to attack Yusei?"

Aki opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. She felt flummoxed. In hindsight, it made so much sense, but they'd never even considered the possibility that Paradox of all people might be psychic. He had so thoroughly rejected everything supernatural.

"I guess so…" she said at long last. "I thought you guys had just invented, I dunno, some really solid Solid Vision tech. Or something."

"Ah, no, we haven't. Never seemed necessary, with Paradox around."

They lapsed into silence again, more awkward now that Aki had some more revelations to think about. She wordlessly slid T.G. Wonder Magician's card back to Bruno, who pocketed it. The pink blur — was it actually Bruno's monster? Or just a figment of her imagination? — was still there, hovering between Bruno and the window. If it was the monster, why was she even here?

Thirteen years. Her mind was still stuck on the number. It was so close. She had expected them to have more time. Here she was, sitting in the hospital being useless when in thirteen years, their entire world would be destroyed. Did Bruno even have an idea of how to save the future? He hadn't replied earlier. Could she ask him again?

But if she didn't, could she deal with the uncertainty forever?

"Bruno?"

Bruno made an answering noise.

"Do you know how to save your future?"

Bruno drew in on himself. "I—"

But he didn't continue. He shook his head and turned back towards the window, staring at the lone duck outside.

"Do you?"

"… No."

Aki sucked in a breath. Should she have been surprised? If Bruno had known a way to save the future, wouldn't he already have done so?

The pink blur was going crazy around him. Aki almost got dizzy watching the monster fluttering around Bruno. What was it trying to accomplish if Bruno couldn't even see it?

"Why's your monster doing that?"

"Doing what?"

Aki told him about the monster flying around. As she did, the pink blur shot towards her, then back towards Bruno. It repeated the action a few more times, to Aki's general confusion.

"It keeps flying towards me and then back to you."

To her surprise, Bruno let out a hollow laugh. "Does she? Yeah alright, I get it."

Get what? But Bruno didn't elaborate. He slumped in his chair. "I didn't even know what caused it until recently," he murmured. The monster stopped moving.

"Until recently?"

"I found out… I don't think there's anything we can do," he said haltingly. Bruno was almost two heads taller than Aki, and yet she'd never seen him look so small.

"I'm sure there's a way. We can help," she offered. If anything, that seemed to make it worse. Bruno flinched as if hit.

"No, you can't. There's nothing you can do." He choked back a sob. "All this time, everything we tried, everything we did, and it's all useless. The world's going to end in thirteen years, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Why are you giving up now?" she asked. If there was anything she'd learned from Paradox's brief stint with the team, it was that neither he nor Bruno would rest until they'd saved their future. And if it was in thirteen years, that made it her future too.

"Because there's nothing I—" He leaned back and finally looked at her. "Aki, you have to promise me you won't tell Yusei this. Or Jack or Crow." He swallowed heavily. "They can't know. It'll destroy them."

What could possibly be that bad?

"Aki, promise me."

All right, then. "I promise."

"Neo Domino is a cultural melting pot. In that sense it was ideal for Momentum," Bruno began. It sounded like a lecture he'd learned by heart. "Momentum runs on people's emotions. Strong emotions give it more power, and strong positive emotions are by far its best power source. Neo Domino has always been relatively free of prejudice. Not perfect, of course, but not enough to significantly impact Momentum."

He wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know. "So what changed?" she asked.

"What's the one thing City people still dislike?"

There was a memory, a flash of a conversation from weeks ago. Crow telling her how he'd gotten kicked out of a store— "People with criminal markers?"

"Close. Momentum can change. It can be corrupted if the influx of bad emotions is strong enough."

The feeling of horrible realization was one she hadn't felt in such a long time, not since Divine had— She bit her lip. "Bruno, what are you saying?"

"It's Satellite. The destruction of the world is a direct consequence of the reunion of the City and Satellite."

"No..." They'd worked so hard for that. They'd spent so much effort to help everyone, to build the Daedalus Bridge and reunite both parts of what had once been Domino City. And now it was going to destroy them all? Everything they'd done, everything the guys had done, and it had only served to make things worse?

Bruno gave her a humorless smile. "Tell me, how do you fix prejudice?"

"Time."

"Which is exactly what we don't have. This is... This is hopeless," Bruno said. He closed his eyes. "I don't know what to do anymore. This isn't something we can change."

"You said thirteen years. A lot can happen in thirteen years."

"I have no idea if that would ever be enough, and even if it is, we just don't have that time. Over the next decade, Neo Domino is going to expand massively. You've already seen it, right? It took only six months to build the Daedalus Bridge and revamp the city. That's not going to stop. It's already started and we have one year, maybe two. After that, it's irreversible."

Aki swallowed. "Can't you tell people?"

"Who'd believe us?" Bruno laughed bitterly. "Hello everyone, we come from the future, and we're here to tell you that if you don't play nice with each other, the world is going to be destroyed."

"Point taken," Aki said with a grimace. "Okay, what about... What about Zero Reverse? If the City was never split in two, there'll never be a problem when it reunites, right? Why don't you stop Zero Reverse from happening?"

"You'd never meet Yusei," Bruno said with a sideways glance. "Would you be okay with that?"

"I—" Never meet Yusei? Or Crow or anyone else? But if the past changed, she'd probably not remember them anyway, so she wouldn't miss them... But was that worth it? What kind of person would she be? Maybe there'd be no one to help her with her powers. Maybe she'd still be the girl who everyone reviled. "I don't—"

Bruno held up a hand to silence her. "Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway. Zero Reverse is a fixed point. Somehow, some way, it always happens."

"How so?"

"Certain points in time can't be changed, no matter what, and believe me, we've tried. The creation of Duel Monsters is one, as is Momentum. Zero Reverse is another."

The Crimson Dragon had said something about that. It'd said... "What if your future is one too?" she said. The words were out before she realized it, and Aki immediately wished she could take them back. Bruno froze, hands clenched.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"I try very hard to believe that isn't the case," he said. "We've always believed it was possible, because if it isn't, we might as well have gone out and let the Machine Emperors kill us. We have to—!"

"And there's really nothing? What's Paradox say?"

"… I haven't told him."

Aki's eyes widened. She'd gotten the impression that Bruno and Paradox were much like the guys, that they'd tell each other everything, especially something as big as this. Bruno toyed with his deck holder; a nervous gesture.

"I know I should, but I know what he's gonna say if I do, and—" he didn't meet her eyes. "There is one plan. I know Paradox will want to go ahead with it and I don't want us to, but on the other hand I'm not seeing any other solutions myself. I tried, but there's nothing."

"What's the plan?"

Bruno didn't answer. He studiously continued avoiding her eyes and Aki grimaced.

"Fine, don't tell me."

That got him to flinch again. Bruno shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's bad, but it's the only idea we have."

Aki leaned back against her pillow and stared at the ceiling. Knowing the kinds of plans Paradox had come up with, if Bruno was calling this one bad, it had to be really bad. "There's really nothing else?"

"We hoped for a while… Paradox said Yuki Judai had promised to help us, and he might've actually had a chance, but Yusei said he's gone now."

Yuki Judai. Again that name. It kept haunting her. But if Yuki Judai was a possible way out of this mess…

"Getting him back would help?"

"It's better than whatever we've got going on right now."

Aki made a decision. One she might very well regret it later, but right now... "All right. I'll help. We'll get him back."

"How?"

Aki took a deep breath. "I'm quitting Team 5D's," she said.

"What?" Bruno stared at her, incredulous. "Why?"

"If I want to help anyone, I can't do it here," Aki said. She stared down at her hands. "I can't use my powers anymore, and Crow will be back on the team for the next round. They don't need me. But if I get my powers back, I can get Yuki Judai back. It can be done. I just need to find a way to get my powers back and I can't do that as part of the team." Not after what you've told me, she didn't say. Not when they're right there and I won't be able to keep it a secret.

Then what are you going to do?"

"Europe... I don't know if they'll still have me, but there's someone — Johan Andersen. He's been helping people see monster spirits. It's not the same as my powers, but it's the best chance I have." Especially since Arcadia had been disbanded. Maybe with Arcadia, she would've been able to find a teacher closer to home, but there wasn't much chance for that now.

"Rainbow Dragon." Bruno nodded. "That's what we need, isn't it?"

"I— Yes." Manjoume-san had told her as much, but how did Bruno know?

"We've studied so many duelists over the years," Bruno said with a humorless laugh when he saw her look. "Johan Andersen and Rainbow Dragon… There's a reason Paradox targeted them. It's a powerful monster." He nodded decisively. "It's better than anything we've got right now. If you could, Aki, we'd be eternally grateful."

The guys would be thrilled about the idea of getting Yuki Judai back. It should take no trouble at all to convince them this was the best course of action. But she would never be able to tell them exactly what she'd just found out. It would break them and now she didn't just know about Bruno's plans, but she was actively complicit in them. They'd be furious if they knew. But Aki didn't want to die and she didn't want anyone else to die. Not now, and definitely not in thirteen years. If this was the way to do it… She'd been relying on other people for so long. Maybe she could actually do something for them now.

"Of course. It's not like I'm being of much use right now."

"Losing against Unicorn wasn't your fault," Bruno cut through with a grimace. "I told you. You were really really good during that duel."

"Thanks," she said. The pain of the lost match still lingered. "We didn't win, though."

"Which wasn't your fault," he repeated stubbornly. "If anything, you gave Yusei the best set-up he could've had, so if it was anyone's fault, it was his."

Aki smiled tentatively. Bruno would know what he was talking about, wouldn't he? "Yusei was... Really distracted that day. I think that's what cost us the game." Jean from Team Unicorn hadn't been impressed with them as opponents at all. It still hurt her to think about.

"He said so. Why was that?"

Aki gave him an incredulous look. He really had to ask? "You," she said when Bruno didn't seem to realize anything. She didn't even really bother to hide the bitterness in her voice. "He'd been trying to find you ever since you left. You do realize that, don't you?"

Bruno's shocked expression told her that, no, he had not realized at all. "I suppose... With Paradox..." he said hesitantly. Aki sighed.

"Never mind," she said. Bruno wasn't responsible for the way Yusei chose to act.

"Yusei means well, I guess," Bruno said. He stared at the pond outside, thoughts seemingly far away. The duck from before had been joined by a second one.

"He'd be happier if you came back," Aki said, but she knew those were empty words. Their earlier conversation had proven that abundantly. Bruno turned his head and gave her an inscrutable look.

"The thing about Yusei," he said, "is that he wants everyone to be happy, and he wants to fix their problems for them, but that wouldn't make me happy. It'd just make me feel useless. Even if it makes me a hypocrite, I can't go back now."

Odd choice of words. "Hypocrite?" Aki asked.

Bruno laughed softly. "If Yusei could save our future, I'd be eternally grateful. At this point, I don't care who or what saves it in the end, just as long as it happens. It's the same for all of us."

"How does that make you a hypocrite?"

"Because we've been doing this for so long that part of me… Well, part of me wants it to be us, you know? To know that everything we did wasn't just completely useless in the end. And it shouldn't matter—" he shook his head.

"But it does," Aki finished softly. Bruno nodded.

"It goes against all common sense," he said, "but that's… it's part of why I can't go back. I just don't want to rely on Yusei too much, especially when he knows next to nothing about what's going on and really shouldn't find out."

He said that last part with a warning look at Aki. Aki nodded.

"He won't. If we can get Judai back, the guys will never need to know anyway, right?"

"Right." Bruno got up abruptly. "I need to go. I have to... I have to talk to Paradox."

"Bruno." Aki held up a hand to stop him from leaving. "I'll try my best to get Yuki Judai back, I promise."

Bruno looked down at her. He smiled. "I know. I really appreciate it."

Did he believe she could do it? She didn't know. She didn't even know if she could.

"Thanks," Bruno said again, the sadness creeping into his voice once more. He really sounded like he'd given up, and that made Aki even more determined to do something, anything. She'd be damned before she'd just let her entire city — her entire world get destroyed. If Bruno wasn't going to do anything, she'd just have to do it herself. Even if she wasn't able to duel during the WRGP, and even if she couldn't use her own powers, there had to be something she could do. The Crimson Dragon had said that destiny had changed. She refused to believe this situation was entirely hopeless.

Bruno smiled once more, then made his way through the door of her room. She listened until she heard his footsteps fade, then slumped back into her pillows. She had a lot of calls to make. And a very big secret to keep.

* * *

 **Next chapter:** How does one build bridges between worlds so vastly disparate?


	14. XII - Bridge Keeper

**XII. Bridge Keeper**

"You are quite convinced of the veracity of this information," Z-one asked. Antinomy toyed with his sunglasses. Ah, this copy of his old friend was not quite as he remembered. Sometimes he wondered about the effectiveness of the memory removal procedure, especially as Paradox had been so against it. It couldn't be helped, though. Antinomy had regained his memories, quite by accident, and it had thrown a rather big wrench in their plans. Paradox had assured him everything could go ahead as scheduled and that, now that both of them were taking part in the WRGP, they wouldn't even need Fudou Yusei for their plans. Z-one hadn't felt comfortable with that idea, but it was clearly more auspicious to include as few outsiders as possible.

"It's practically the only thing that makes sense," Paradox said. He'd sent Z-one the data only half an hour ago, and he and Antinomy had appeared in Z-one's realm mere minutes later, arguing about what turned out to be Antinomy's discovery. Paradox was still messing around with the data on his tablet—one he'd clearly borrowed from Chiasma.

"Hmm, yes," Z-one said. Why did this make him so uncomfortable? It should have been good, or at least beneficial news to them. They had finally figured out what had caused the Momentum reactors to go out of control. That it was the reunion of Neo Domino City and Satellite shouldn't matter to him. It was sad, of course, that such a superficially happy event would lead to such horror and destruction. Maybe the discomfort he felt were some last stabs of pity for the people of this city **.**

He shook off the feeling and focused on his old friends. Paradox did look quite a bit better than the last time he'd seen him, when he'd brought the message that the Ark had already failed them once. Antinomy, like Paradox, looked more sure of himself now that he'd regained his memories, but he still seemed to carry with him a certain melancholy that Z-one hadn't seen in him before, not even after all the pain they'd gone through together. He missed the first Antinomy, like he missed the first Paradox. These copies had been supposed to be identical, but day by day it was becoming clearer that they weren't, and he didn't even think they'd realized as much themselves. The first Antinomy would have been able to explain to him why he felt so uneasy. He would have been able to help him through it. These two were barely children in comparison.

Antinomy took off his sunglasses, folded them and unfolded them again. "The thing is," he said, and then bit his lip. He took a deep breath. "The thing is, this is just Neo Domino. What about the other cities?"

Paradox cast him a worried look. Z-one was quite surprised— What a strange question for Antinomy to ask. He knew as well as they did how the Momentum reactors across the world had gone out of control. Maybe he should be checking him over to see if the memory loss had had any unintended lasting effects.

"The fear the rest of the world felt at seeing the Machine Emperors appear made the other Momentum reactors go out of control," he said. "You do know that, don't you?"

Antinomy frowned. "That's—" he started to say, but Paradox shook his head, and Antinomy closed his mouth.

"A sad truth," Z-one said. "However, our course of action has become clear now."

"Nuke the city."

Z-one wouldn't have put it in such harsh terms himself. "If you wish to put it that way, yes. Neo Domino City is clearly the issue here, therefore it is Neo Domino City that—sadly—will need to be done away with."

Antinomy flinched. Z-one could sympathize, but Antinomy knew just as well as the rest of them that they would have to go through with this. No matter how many lives it cost them, no matter how many of their friends they'd have to see die—

 _His best friend since childhood, dead under the rubble of a collapsed apartment building, blond hair stained red_

 _—_ there was no other option. It was the only choice they had left to them. And like Aporia, it definitely wasn't Antinomy's first time killing people. Z-one suppressed the urge to sigh. Had Antinomy's memory loss been so detrimental to him? Z-one, too, remembered less of his life than he would have liked. He could imagine what Antinomy was feeling. Still, Antinomy wouldn't abandon him, not over something like this.

"It's really the only way, isn't it?" Antinomy said. He closed his eyes for a second. "Alright. I suppose that's how it has to be."

"Yes, it is quite unfortunate."

Paradox was frowning. "How far along is the Ark?" he asked. "Has Aporia been keeping track of it?"

"Quite, yes. Our data so far are inconclusive, but an optimistic estimate…" They had very little to be optimistic about these days, but perhaps, just perhaps. "An optimistic estimate states that the Ark will appear during the finals of the World Riding Grand Prix. While it is possible that the Ark Cradle will appear later than that, it should give us a relative time scale."

"Right, so that gives us… Two weeks for the next round, a week for the quarter finals…" Paradox counted out. "A bit more than a month. Right?"

"That is correct."

Antinomy fidgeted. The blue of his T-shirt stood in sharp contrast with the sterile white in the little world Z-one had built for himself. The last time he'd been here was back when he'd still been without memory, when he and Chiasma had been transported here, along with Fudou Yusei. How long ago was it now? How time went by. Antinomy had been sequestered to this timezone for almost a year. Aporia's three forms had been here for even longer. And Paradox… This Paradox was still a mystery for him. There was still another Paradox on his radar, one quite happily trying to sabotage Kaiba Corporation in 2008. Yet it wouldn't have been the first time they'd run into other versions of themselves, and what right did he have to doubt Paradox—Any Paradox—when he said he came from a future that had seen them all dead? The impossible had lost a lot of its meaning the moment they had been successful in figuring out the workings of time travel.

"In a month, the Ark Cradle will appear," he said. "When that time comes, you will need to be on board. You will be able to access it if you use your key cards. As the reversal of the Momentum engine will destroy the Ark Cradle from the inside out, I will only do so once the Ark Cradle has effectively materialized. It will give us a timespan of twelve hours to crash the Ark before it destroys itself. Its position will need to be centered right above Neo Domino City's central Momentum reactor."

The Momentum reactor was located right in the middle of the city, underneath the historical city center and not too far from the Word Riding Grand Prix stadium. Its coordinates had long been input already, but the fickle nature of this dimension, unbound by the nature of time and space itself, often made it necessary to perform a course correction. He had been keeping a close eye on it. Once the required energy had been gathered, he would perform the last check and then let the Ark Cradle materialize itself.

"Of course, the odds of our survival decrease the longer we stay on the Ark Cradle. Unfortunately, we will have to stay on board until the final crash, in order to deal with any counterattacks." The city of Neo Domino would undoubtedly launch an attack on the Ark Cradle, and if they wouldn't, Fudou Yusei was bound to.

"There will be people who survive," Paradox pointed out. Antinomy nodded, almost relieved.

"Twelve hours isn't enough to relocate the entire city outside the blast radius, but those people on the outskirts of Neo Domino will be able to get away from the city in time," he picked up **.**

"Yes, quite right. They will serve as a warning."

"So wouldn't that defeat the purpose? It's not the city that's the problem, but the people," said Paradox. Z-one closed his eyes briefly.

"They will be a minority that will be reintegrated in other cities across the country quite easily. Adding to that, the trauma of seeing their city destroyed will let them get over their petty grudges." If he made it sound convincing, he could perhaps believe it too. Sure enough, the destruction of the world had caused an outflow in sympathy towards others—for a while. Unfortunately, their goodwill had faded when resources started running low and defeating the Machine Emperors proved to be a harder task than originally imagined. But the survivors of Neo Domino City wouldn't have to deal with the Machine Emperors. They could begin a new life in a different city, and they wouldn't have to deal with each other at all. The destruction would be catastrophic, far larger than even the damage the Earthbound Gods had managed to do, but it was a necessary sacrifice. And however reluctant Antinomy might be, Z-one was quite convinced his friend was aware of that as well. Perhaps he would have been less troubled if he hadn't made friends with so many people in the city. Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped.

Paradox crossed his arms. "And Sherry?"

How peculiar that Paradox, of all people, had taken to referring to Chiasma by her old name. While it was true that Chiasma and the woman who'd provided Antinomy and Paradox with shelter had very little in common, it was nonetheless not one of Paradox's habits to make such a strict distinction between the different versions of themselves. "Is she aware of our plans?" he asked.

"Of course not," Paradox said quickly. "Seems unfair to her, is all. She's French, after all. Not a citizen of Neo Domino City."

Antinomy snorted. Paradox glared at him. Z-one resolved to keep a closer eye on them all. This really was quite unlike Paradox.

"You take a very active interest in her well-being," he stated.

Paradox shrugged. "We look out for our own, don't we? There's no need for her to get caught up in this."

Z-one considered it briefly. Sherry Leblanc didn't have the knowledge Chiasma had had, and as such she was quite useless to his plans. And still, maybe it was sentimentality… He had already saved her life once before, after all.

"If you can remove her from the city without letting her in on what will happen, I see no issue with it," he conceded. Paradox sagged. "Do what you believe necessary to ensure her safety, as long as—"

"—It doesn't jeopardize our plans, of course."

"I am glad we are all in agreement," Z-one said. Antinomy looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. "I shall inform Aporia's three forms of this new development. In the meantime, keep a low profile. Participate in the tournament as often as you can. The more people duel, the faster we will be able to collect the amount of duel energy required to summon the Ark Cradle."

"Would be easier if Sherry actually let me duel," Antinomy muttered. Had he too chosen to refer to the girl as Sherry instead of Chiasma? Ah, but he had met her when his memory had still been erased. Perhaps, in his case, it was understandable.

"I do believe I will see you soon," he said. Paradox nodded, as did Antinomy, after a fashion.

"Take care, Z-one," he said. Then both he and Paradox activated their key cards and disappeared in a haze of code. It left Z-one alone again, in the vast expanse of nothingness that was this in-between realm. Left to ponder the destruction of Neo Domino City, both the one that had already long passed and the one that was imminent. The citizens weren't aware of the damage they were causing. Sometimes these sacrifices were quite necessary, however much it bothered him. He had no true connection to the city—he'd arrived there as a scientist not even a year before the Machine Emperors had arrived. But Fudou Yusei… It had been Fudou Yusei's city, and that alone should have given it some extra value, something more than just any other city across Japan. Fudou Yusei had been supposed to protect it, after all. Up until his sudden disappearance in the chaos left in the wake of the destroyed Momentum Reactor, Fudou Yusei had never failed.

Fudou Yusei would undoubtedly try to stop them. And this time, more than ever, it was imperative that he not succeed. Their entire future depended on it. He couldn't let it be destroyed again. The death of Fudou Yusei tended to do uncomfortable things with the timeline and even, somehow, his own existence, but for once it might be an unfortunate necessity. A last push. Maybe after this, they'd be free to rest, their future safe and sound.

 **oOoOo**

They were somewhere over Russia when Aki woke up, barely five hours after she'd fallen asleep and only eight hours after take-off from Tokyo. It would take at least another four hours before they'd reach Bergen. She yawned. These flights were endless. The one from Neo Domino to Tokyo had barely lasted an hour, and apart from too-expensive drinks, she had quite enjoyed it. Her parents had insisted on having her travel first class, and she couldn't say she'd protested too hard. It had barely mattered on the first flight, where the airline's idea of first class had been a curtain separating her from the rest of the plane, but on this intercontinental flight, the advantages were numerous. Already she was very grateful for the extra leg room and seats that actually reclined most of the way.

Explaining to the guys that she was quitting the team had been far less painful than she'd feared. Yusei already knew about Johan Andersen and had even agreed that going to him was her best chance for getting her powers back. He had been overjoyed at the prospect of seeing Judai again. Crow had told her he would have gladly given her his place in the WRGP, but Aki could see that he was itching to duel again. Convincing her parents had been a bit harder, but they had yielded after only two days. No one had suspected any ulterior motives on her part. Nevertheless, she had felt relieved when she'd said her goodbyes; sometimes she felt like the lies were written on her face clear as day.

They'd left near sunset in Tokyo, so now they were just following the night, and Aki hadn't seen daylight in the last nine hours. She could do with some. She activated the screen attached to her seat again and stared at the flight route. A little more than three hours to go, it told her, but she was hesitant to believe it, especially since their estimated arrival time was still four hours away. She scrolled through the menu, trying to find anything that appealed to her, but couldn't find anything interesting she hadn't already watched in the hours before she fell asleep. Eventually she skipped over a documentary about aliens building the pyramids, and settled on one that had them building Stonehenge instead.

It droned in the background while she slumped in her seat and closed her eyes, letting her thoughts wander. She already missed Neo Domino, but if she stayed there, she'd never be able to accomplish anything useful. And then there was Bruno, of course. They had been in touch briefly after their conversation in the hospital. She hoped the guys never found out. They'd worked so hard to reunite the city… For a better life for themselves, and for everyone on Satellite. To know that everything they'd done had only served to make the world destroy itself quicker? Aki swallowed, but it didn't get rid of the feeling that had settled in her throat and stomach. Had they really defeated the Earthbound Gods, only to bring about the end of the world anyway? Thirteen years, Bruno had said, but only two if they wanted to accomplish anything at all.

But Yuki Judai could help, and to get him back they needed Johan Andersen. Manjoume-san had told her, only two days ago, that Johan had been teaching kids around Europe, coaching them into gaining a closer bond with their decks and monsters. How exactly that would help with getting her powers back, she didn't know yet. Even so, it was far better than doing nothing at all.

She dozed off somewhere around the aliens turning Stonehenge in a landing strip and only woke up when a flight attendant shook her awake. The intercom was announcing their arrival at Bergen. Aki folded her blanket and fastened her seatbelt, but even so, it still took half an hour of circling around the airport before they were allowed to land, and another twenty minutes before they actually reached the terminal. So this was Bergen? Her first impression was that it looked very dreary and rainy. Maybe the actual city would be more impressive than the airport. Manjoume-san had assured her that Johan would be waiting to pick her up, but doubt set in while she was waiting for her luggage to arrive. What if no one was here? What if Johan Andersen had decided he didn't need someone who couldn't summon monsters? She had her passport, but she didn't know Norwegian at all and her English was sketchy at best.

Her nerves only increased when she'd gathered her luggage and made her way through a last passport check. The arrival zone was packed with friends and family members waiting for the new arrivals, but no one she saw fit the description of Johan Andersen. She stood there to the side with her luggage, feeling more than a little lost in this new country on the other side of the world. Was she just going to wait here all day? What if no one came for her? She had memorized Johan's address before she left, but would the people here understand her?

"Hello, you must be Aki," someone said right next to her in slightly-accented Japanese. She barely prevented herself from jumping and turned around to face the speaker: a European man with blue hair and blue-green eyes. Johan Andersen.

"Yes," she said, suppressing a sigh of relief. Johan Andersen smiled. It didn't quite reach his eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, holding out a hand. "I hope you had a good trip?"

Aki nodded, surreptitiously studying him. For someone who was only forty-one, he definitely looked older, and something about his eyes looked familiar. Not the color — she hadn't seen that particular shade of green before — but something about the way he looked around, something about the way the lines in the corners of his eyes were too pronounced, the eyes of someone who had frowned far too much...

 _Tenjoin-san,_ she thought. Tenjoin Asuka had had the same kind of eyes. Sad eyes. Manjoume-san had mentioned something about Johan having been Yuki Judai's best friend. Come to think of it, Manjoume-san's eyes were like that too.

"I'm glad you were able to come," Johan said. "Come on, I'm sure you'd like some time to rest."

Aki suppressed the yawn she felt coming up at that statement. Johan noticed and smiled gently. "It's hell, isn't it? I've made this trip too many times already but it never gets easier." He grabbed her bag. Aki wanted to protest but Johan waved her off. "We'll take a taxi."

They reached the taxi bay without incident and Johan provided the driver with an address that was all strange sounds to Aki. He and Johan struck up a conversation in rapid Norwegian. Aki, for lack of anything better to do, turned on her phone and wrote an e-mail to Japan. She'd promised she'd let them know when she'd arrived, after all.

The trip took longer than she'd expected — the airport clearly wasn't situated right next to the city and she'd already finished her e-mail after a few minutes. Johan was still chatting with the taxi driver. She pulled out the book she'd failed to read on the plane and opened it. Might as well do something. Looking out of the window got boring.

"Ah, Aki!" Johan said twenty minutes later, just as the plot of her book had started to pick up and she was becoming more interested in what was going to happen. She looked up, startled. "Sorry, I've been talking all this time. We're almost at the city. What do you think?" Johan pointed out of the window, and Aki saw that they were entering Bergen now. Unlike Neo Domino, this city wasn't using much Momentum-based technology yet. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing, Aki reflected, not with the damage Momentum might be causing far too soon. The lack of Momentum gave the place a very different look, like it had been transplanted here from the last century.

"It's different," she said truthfully. She'd spent most of her life in Neo Domino, and the very few times she'd been to Tokyo with her parents, when she was still a little kid, hadn't left much of an impression on her. Everything looked different in Europe, even the trees. At least Bergen still had a sea.

"Have you always lived here?" she asked, desperate for a change of subject before the homesickness overcame her again.

"For the most part." Johan looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "I stayed at North Academia a lot when I was a teen, but I bought my house a little before I graduated, once I'd earned enough prize money."

Right, Johan Andersen had been a Pro Duelist. Aki lapsed in silence as she watched the landscape go by. Fifteen minutes later, the car turned into a wide street and pulled up in front of a house surrounded by trees. It wasn't particularly big — Aki would've thought Johan Andersen would've been able to afford better — but the large garden more than made up for it. She could only see parts of it from the street, but it looked like it stretched out far beyond the house itself.

Johan paid the taxi driver while Aki got her luggage out of the trunk. Just a minute later, the two walked up to the front door. Aki thought she saw a flash of blue from the corner of her eyes, but on second glance, it turned out to be just a bunch of flowers. Johan fished out his keys and unlocked the door.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess," he said as they entered the living room. He wasn't lying; the large table in the middle of the living room had papers strewn all across it, almost entirely covering the small laptop sitting near the edge. Who still used paper?

Johan hurriedly gathered most of the papers in a messy pile and mentioned for her to sit down. "Make yourself comfortable," he said. Aki took a seat and stared down at her hands. Johan had been unfailingly nice to her ever since picking her up, but he had to know she didn't have her powers right now. She was sure Manjoume-san told him.

"I'm afraid I can't be of much use right now," she said. Johan shook his head with a smile.

"I'm sure you'll be a great help." Johan walked to what she believed to be the kitchen. "Now, do you want anything to eat?"

 **oOoOo**

When Antinomy had come to him with the news of what exactly had caused the collapse of their future, Paradox had…probably been less surprised than he should have been. He had never been attached to Neo Domino the way Z-one was and finally figuring out what had caused the destruction of their world felt like a relief. After their conversation with Z-one a couple of days ago, he was almost perversely glad that Antinomy _finally_ seemed willing to consider the Ark Cradle.

He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

"Is there really nothing else?"

"We have to go through with it. The Ark is our only chance now," Paradox said, once more looking over the data Antinomy had come up with. He glanced at Antinomy, who had been very pale all day, and now looked slightly sick to the stomach. "If Neo Domino is the problem—"

"We have to get rid of Neo Domino," Antinomy finished his sentence. "I know, but is this really it?"

"What other option is there?" Paradox said. He had been doing the math ever since Antinomy had come to him with the data, days ago. They'd even had conversations similar to this one quite a few times over. This was one mission they really wouldn't be returning from this time. Either they succeeded, and they saved the world, or they didn't, and they'd die along with it. Again.

"But everyone here..."

Paradox whirled around. "Don't tell me you actually got attached to them? You know how this works, Antinomy. There's nothing and no one that should be holding us back, especially not Team 5D's. They're the reason we're in this whole mess anyway!"

"Oh, that's rich! Weren't you the one wanting to get Sherry out?" Antinomy said. Paradox immediately wanted to interrupt, but Antinomy continued talking. "So she would get to live and you can have what you want, but Team 5D's won't?"

"Sherry isn't a citizen of Neo Domino City," Paradox argued. "She's not involved in this."

"Because her life is worth so much more than anyone else's? Who's getting attached now?"

"So you just want her to die?"

Antinomy slammed his hands down on the table. "I don't want _anyone_ to die, that's the fucking point!"

"We're a bit past that, aren't we?"

"So we just—" Antinomy took a deep breath. "So we just destroy Neo Domino City. That's it. End of the line." He sat down. "But you do realize that if it happens here, it could happen somewhere else as well."

Paradox was all too aware. The problem was, and always had been, Momentum, but whatever cruel force that governed this universe had declared Momentum a fixed point and nothing they'd tried had managed to stop the development of the program.

"I just wish there was a way to make people give up Momentum. Somehow."

"You know it can't happen." That was just politics, with an added dash of greed, despair and human nature. "It's the perfect energy source—"

"Almost no cost, no fuel needed, no pollution, limitless supply," Antinomy cited. "Yeah, I know. It's far too tempting. We're still using it ourselves."

Paradox snorted. Yeah, Delta Eagle ran on Momentum, as did his own D-Wheel, and even the Ark contained a Momentum reactor—reversed, however. Momentum was by far the most convenient energy source the human race had ever come up with. It was so easy to use, so easy to get access to, that even for him, who'd spent over a year in a time without Momentum, it was almost impossible to imagine a life without. But Momentum was still the source of all their problems.

"There should be a better solution than this. What happens if the same conflict breaks out in another city that has a Momentum reactor?" Antinomy said. Paradox didn't want to agree, but the reactors were still spreading in this timeline, and in less than a decade, almost every city in the world would have one. A few places had stubbornly refused to make use of Momentum, but that hadn't saved them from the Machine Emperors.

"If we remove the catalyst, it will give us time," Paradox said. Time was something they were somehow always short of.

"Time for what?" Sherry asked. Antinomy got up so fast he almost tripped over his chair. Paradox bit the inside of his cheek so he didn't make a sound. Sherry was leaning against the doorframe, her hair tied in a ponytail, still wearing her riding outfit. They hadn't expected her to be back for another hour at least.

When neither of them replied, she raised her eyebrows and leisurely walked into the room. "So that's the game you're going to play, is it? Don't tell Sherry anything? I do believe you still need a team."

Ouch, that was cold. He'd thought that they got along better than this.

"It's not that we're keeping secrets—" Antinomy said. He trailed off, because of course that sentence didn't have an ending. Telling Sherry about the Ark was madness. Telling her to leave Japan without a reason why would only make her more suspicious.

"I did think you were going to help me," she said. "Clearly I was wrong."

Was he the only one noticing the note of disappointment in her voice? Maybe he hadn't been wrong in his initial assessment.

"It's… dangerous," he said. Sherry, as he'd expected, was not impressed.

"My entire life has been dangerous. I almost died when I was a toddler. _Twice._ So either you fess up and I know what's going to happen or I'll drag it out of you."

Paradox sighed. Even as Antinomy shook his head, he said: "Neo Domino is the root cause of the destruction of our future."

"I'm aware. That isn't new, is it?"

"Paradox, what are you—" Antinomy hissed. Paradox cut him off.

"We also discovered the precise reason why the Momentum reactor in Neo Domino will go out of control. Unfortunately, it is already in the past."

"And why is that a problem?" Sherry said. She'd taken to the idea of time travel remarkably fast.

Antinomy was still shaking his head, but he sighed. "I guess Paradox is going to tell you anyway. Actually, it's Satellite."

Sherry tilted her head. "Satellite? How?"

"It's the reunion…" Antinomy swallowed. "There's so much resentment between the city and the people of Satellite, it's making emotions run high everywhere."

"Disturbing," said Sherry. She stole Paradox's chair and sat down. "So what do you plan to do about it? Ask everyone to play nice?"

"That wouldn't wo—" Antinomy started. Sherry snorted and he glared. "Yeah, you know very well that'd never work. What would we even tell them?"

"Depends. Do you want a stay in prison or in an insane asylum?"

Antinomy closed his eyes. Paradox could tell he was on the verge of one of his rare outbursts. "The issue is that we can't possibly resolve this in a way that's beneficial for everyone," he cut in quickly. Antinomy already didn't like what was going on. Sherry mocking them wasn't helping his mood, and right now Paradox needed him to stay calm and focused.

"Yes, I gathered. So what will you do?"

"The Ark," Antinomy muttered. Paradox looked at him, surprised, and Antinomy said: "Since you're already telling her everything anyway. Either she finds out now or when you make it descend."

Still with the _you_. He kept distancing himself from the Ark Cradle. Antinomy would have to decide which side he was on very quickly, or it would prove to be disastrous for all of them.

"The Ark Cradle… It's a city. It's a giant city between timelines we managed to construct. The city that could never be," Paradox said. Sherry's skepticism was clear on her face.

"Do I even want to know how that works?"

"It will crash on top of the city," Antinomy continued dispassionately. "The Ark Cradle's Momentum reactor turns in reverse to the one of Neo Domino City. If they crash into each other, the reversal of direction will take out everything in at least a hundred-mile radius."

 _One hundred and twelve point seven,_ Paradox didn't say. Sherry didn't need details now, not with the way her green eyes widened, the way she gasped and jumped up. The way she slammed her hands down on top of the table like Antinomy had done earlier.

"Are you kidding? You want to destroy the city?"

Antinomy laughed bitterly. "Want? I don't want anything. But we don't have a lot of choice in the matter. Momentum made that abundantly clear to us."

"So you'll kill millions of people, just to—"

"To save billions," Paradox cut in. He shrugged. "Do you think we haven't had the same argument a hundred times over? Because we've heard it all. We've made the arguments ourselves. If you and Mizoguchi leave now, you'll be safe."

"Like hell we will. What if it doesn't work? Then what will you do?"

"If we're not dead, we'll try again."

Sherry closed her eyes. "You're crazy, the bunch of you. Destroying an entire city… Is there no other way?"

"Not unless we can get the people of the City and Satellite to become magical best friends in the span of a few months, no," Antinomy said. "I really wish there was a way… I've been thinking and thinking, but it always comes back to the Ark."

"No," said Sherry.

"No?" Paradox looked down at her. Her eyes had narrowed, and she looked more determined than ever.

"I refuse to accept that. You two are so mired in your own preconceptions: 'Oh, look what martyrs we are, having to sacrifice so many people!' You're not even trying to find another solution."

"We're not martyrs!" Antinomy said, but Sherry only laughed.

"No? Poor us, look at the sacrifices we're willing to make! We'll take the guilt of killing millions of people just so we can save billions! We'll sacrifice our own lives and souls if that's what it takes!" She shook her head. "You're idiots."

"You weren't there," Antinomy snapped. "You don't know what we've tried already, and nothing has ever worked! Not even once! You didn't see them die—"

"And you did, congratulations. So are you going to stop being stuck in the past and move forwards?"

That was rich, coming from her. Paradox almost opened his mouth to say something, but Antinomy was already furious and Sherry wasn't far behind him. If he was the only one here who could keep his head cool, he'd better put it to use.

"Okay, right. Sherry, you say you can find another way?"

"I can sure as hell try." She grabbed Antinomy's laptop from him. "Give me that. What do we have? When's your Ark thing going to appear?"

"It… The circuit has to be completed."

"And what the hell is that?"

"The circuit runs on dueling energy," Antinomy said. "Other people have tried to collect it before, but they never quite succeeded, but we figured out how to collect it directly. That's why the WRGP even exists. It will complete the circuit in Neo Domino, and once it does, it'll provide the Ark with enough energy to appear in this world. Once it does…"

"When will that be?" Sherry asked. Their explanation clearly didn't make her happy. After this conversation, she'd be bombarding him with questions.

Antinomy bit his lip. "As far as we know, it will happen during the finals of the WRGP."

"Oh, extra dramatic. So that gives us, what, a month?"

"Something like that."

"Not enough time to get anyone to like each other…" Sherry pondered. "If only there was something they had in common…"

Antinomy's eyes widened. "That… A common enemy. I guess it could work, but then what would it be? There's nothing here that they'd want to fight against, not the both of them. Security made sure of that."

Paradox grimaced. Security. Another factor in this weird mess. He was caught up in his thoughts on the matter, and therefore Sherry's sudden laughter came as a surprise.

"Common enemy," she said, mirth written all over her face. "Isn't it obvious? You wanted to be martyrs so badly."

"What?" Antinomy asked.

"Their common enemy. It's going to be your fancy Ark. It will be you."

* * *

 **Next chapter:** When your younger self roasts you #justtimetravelthings


	15. XIII - Mountain Spirits in Autumn

**XIII. Mountain Spirits in Autumn**

"Johan, she's falling asleep." Sapphire Pegasus said. Johan looked up from his plate, distracted, and found Aki with her eyes closed. She quickly opened them when she heard him move and cringed, looking ashamed. Johan did the math with a suppressed sigh.

"Aki, isn't it almost eleven in Neo Domino?" he asked. The girl looked up and nodded.

"Almost, I think," she said softly. She tried to stifle another yawn. Johan smiled.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" he said. He'd honestly forgotten how terrible jet-lag could be. How long had it been since he'd actually been in Japan? Three years? Four? Not since the last time Judai had gotten a message through to them. When had that been again?

"Johan," Sapphire warned again. Johan shot him a brief smile and focused on Aki again.

"You can stay here. The guest room is free."

"I don't want to trouble you. I can stay in a hotel," she said. She definitely was a lot more polite than Judai had ever been, Johan reflected wryly. Judai would've just shown up at four in the morning and asked for a bed, and hey, Johan, you wouldn't happen to have food, would you? Because Pharaoh ate the last of it and I'm kinda hungry.

Right now, Johan would much rather it be Judai sitting there than Aki.

"It's no problem," he told Aki. It wouldn't do to blame her for something that had happened when she hadn't even been born yet. She was trying to help, even if she might not exactly be able to at the moment. "Come on, I'll show you the guest room."

It took a while to get Aki settled in, but she was fast asleep before Johan had even finished cleaning up and gone back downstairs. She'd been able to get a direct flight from Tokyo to Bergen, but even then these intercontinental flights were exhausting. Johan remembered when he'd had to fly over Heathrow or Frankfurt to get to Japan. There too, Momentum had influenced the world; the new, fuel-efficient planes made it a lot cheaper to get all across the world. Still, Johan wouldn't be using it any time soon, not after Judai had warned all of them to stay away from Domino City when Zero Reverse was nearing, and not when he'd seen the aftermath.

He returned to the living room, where the Gem Beasts were lounging around. Ruby curled up around his shoulder when he entered, the phantom weight comforting as always.

"She's pretty shy, isn't she?" said Topaz Tiger. "D'you think she can really help? I mean, if she's lost her psychic powers—"

"Not lost, blocked," Johan corrected. He sat down and closed his eyes. It was really very hard to remove innate psychic powers altogether, no matter the form they came in. Aki still had her powers, but she just couldn't use them. Well, she wasn't the first kid Johan had helped develop their own powers. Granted, he thought with a glance at Ruby, he usually dealt with spirit seeing, not the particular brand of powers Aki possessed. "And I'm glad for all the help I can get."

"How much is she going to be able to do?" Amethyst Cat asked from somewhere to his right. Johan didn't bother to open his eyes.

"Not her fault her powers are blocked," he said.

"I know," Amethyst Cat said impatiently. "The point is that she won't be able to help us until she gets them back, and who knows when that's going to be? Wouldn't it be far easier to find someone else? She's not the only psychic in the world."

"But she might be the most powerful." Johan lifted his head. His sister had curled up on the couch and was now licking her left paw thoughtfully. "It'll be faster to help her undo the blockage than to scour the world to find someone who can do the same thing."

Rainbow Dragon wasn't exactly an easy monster to summon. Johan had worked with psychics in the past, but none of them had been able to pull it off. Aki, however, had been capable of summoning her own Black Rose Dragon, and her Signer powers would give her own innate powers a significant boost. She was probably the best shot they had.

"I don't like it," Amethyst Cat said. Ruby chirped in agreement.

"You think I do?" With a sigh, Johan pulled his laptop closer and opened it. It was then that he became aware of a new occupant in the room, one that wasn't him or any of the Gem Beasts.

"And who might you be?" he asked the small monster. It looked vaguely like a dragon, only with blue rose petal wings and a body that most resembled a vine. Definitely not one of the monsters he'd ever seen before. The monster chirped. Ruby tried to reach out to it, overbalanced, and only barely managed to keep herself afloat before hitting the ground. She let out an undignified _'Bii!'_ and the other monster poked at her with a wing, concerned.

"Where did you come from?" Johan asked it. It floated all the way up to the ceiling. Upstairs? Oh!

"You're Aki's, aren't you?" he asked with a smile. The little dragon nodded vigorously. "What's the matter?"

The monster made a move that resembled a shrug and flew down again. This time, it settled on top of the couch. Amethyst Cat eyed it warily, but it didn't seem bothered by the cat, even though she was probably twice its size.

"That does make things easier," Sapphire Pegasus said, reappearing. Johan agreed. It looked like Aki's monsters already had enough affinity for her to travel around with her in spirit form, even though she couldn't see them. Johan had taught many people how to see spirits in his life, and the ones who had it easiest were invariably the ones whose monsters already went along with them, instead of staying confined to their decks.

Sadly, that had also made for some cases where the duelist had never been able to see their monsters, no matter how much both wanted it. He'd never really been able to figure out why that happened, and seeing the disappointment in both the duelists' and their monsters' eyes always haunted him for several days afterwards. He could only hope Aki was not another example.

"I think it fell asleep," Amethyst said, waving a paw in the direction of the little dragon. Indeed, it had curled up on itself and was sleeping soundly on top of the sofa. Did monsters get jet lag? Why had he never asked that before?

"Do you guys get jet lag?" he asked.

"Sometimes," Sapphire Pegasus said. He walked closer to the sofa and lowered his head to study the dragon more closely. The monster moved, but didn't wake up. "Out like a light," he said. "Cute little thing, though."

"Yeah," Johan said. If this was really Aki's monster and not another straggler that had found its way into his house, he was getting a good idea of where to start with her.

He sighed and fished Rainbow Dragon's card out of his deck. The dragon, while not visible right now, was a comforting presence in the back of his mind, like he'd been ever since Johan had acquired his card all those years ago in the Desert World. He just hoped that somehow, with Aki's help, they'd be able to get Judai back. Twenty years was truly far too long.

 **oOoOo**

Being in danger every minute of the day had made Paradox a very light sleeper. So when he heard footsteps in the middle of the night, he was immediately awake and on high alert, ready to take on whatever intruder had gotten in. He'd dozed off in the kitchen, and the intruder was taking the circuitous route, avoiding the living room, and therefore Antinomy, altogether. They were coming for him specifically.

"Paradox?"

He relaxed. Not an intruder after all, just Sherry. She was whispering, which meant his earlier hunch had been correct. She didn't want to wake Antinomy.

"What?" he whispered back. Even in the dim light from the outside windows, he could see that she was fully dressed, her hair up in a set of elaborate braids he wasn't sure he could replicate. Was she going out?

"You owe me."

"For what?" He didn't owe her a thing. They paid rent and everything.

"For the Z-ONE card. You owe me, and I'm cashing in."

Ugh, seriously? Paradox pulled the tie out of his hair and retied it, running his hands through his hair quickly to get out the tangles that had formed while he was asleep. "What do you want?"

"I want to see my parents."

Paradox stopped trying to untangle his hair. "Your parents? Are you sure?" he asked. Sherry only nodded.

"I can't travel through time right now," he pointed out. "Why don't you ask Antinomy?"

Sherry looked away. "I'd rather it be you."

It wasn't that Paradox was opposed to it. Having her time travel, even if only once, would certainly keep her a lot safer in case Aporia's forms got up to their antics again. He'd already seen Chiasma die once; he didn't want to see it happen to Sherry if he could help it. And more than that, Sherry was... Interesting. Very different from Chiasma, but a kind of different he definitely didn't mind.

And that was a path he wasn't quite willing to go down yet. "We'll have to take Delta Eagle," he said hurriedly. Sherry smiled. "I can use it, but Antinomy's going to be pretty angry if he finds out."

"Then he won't find out," Sherry said simply. She held out a hand. "Come on."

He took her hand, and she pulled him up, squeezing briefly before letting go. "I don't... want to save them," she said hesitantly. "Well, I do, but that'd be dangerous, right? Not before I really know what happened. But I want to see them, just once."

Paradox didn't say that the Leblancs were probably too inconsequential to cause a widespread change. Dead or alive, Sherry's parents had never had any effect on the future, so if he could avoid unnecessary changes, he was fine with that. Drawing attention to themselves, especially if Mutou Yugi and Yuki Judai were still looking for him, would probably be a bad idea.

"When?" he whispered as they headed down the stairs to the garage where their D-Wheels were parked.

"2012... Let's say June," she said. She gave him a once-over. "I guess you'll do."

He was only wearing a simple black T-shirt and jeans. Compared to Sherry, who was wearing an elaborate get-up that made her look like a cross between a scientist and a businesswoman, he looked decidedly out of place, but if she said it was fine, he wasn't going to bother changing. It wasn't like he had anything as formal as the outfit Sherry was wearing anyway.

They entered the garage quietly and Sherry disabled the alarm, while Paradox went to check on Delta Eagle. Predictably, it was locked, but they'd always been able to use each other's D-Wheels in case of emergency. This probably wasn't what Antinomy would call an emergency, Paradox reflected as he tried to remember Antinomy's override code.

"One-oh-eight-three," he murmured, entering the final numbers as he said them. Delta Eagle whirred to life quietly, and he called up its time travel program. He could do this while driving, but he preferred doing so well in advance.

"Where are we going?" he asked Sherry. She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to look at the display.

"Carcassonne, France," she told him. The board computer immediately identified the coordinates once he entered the place name. He finished entering the date and the program set itself up, ready to be activated the moment he told it to. They were all set to go.

"Ready?" he asked Sherry. She nodded, expression determined, and got on Delta Eagle behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders. He steered Delta Eagle to the exit. "Better hold on tight."

She wrapped her hands around his waist instead, pressing closer. He gritted his teeth and kicked Delta Eagle in gear. He'd never been very comfortable with Antinomy's D-Wheel. Unlike his own, it had been built for speed and reacted much faster to his every action. Trying to drive it the way Antinomy did was a surefire way to cause accidents, especially with Sherry sitting behind him.

Still, they made it out of Neo Domino's city center without trouble, no small part in thanks to the nearly deserted roads. He started speeding up once they hit the coastal highway and activated the time travel program.

"Ten seconds!" he shouted at Sherry over the roaring of the wind and the waves hitting the coast. "Hang on!"

 _Six, five, four, three_ , he counted down for himself. _Two, one,_ "Go."

And there was the familiar sensation of weightlessness, of disappearing from the time stream altogether and traveling outside it. If they stopped here, they could survey all of time, pick the moment they wanted and enter again. Sherry pressed her face against his back. Was she scared? No, the Sherry he knew wouldn't be.

Another flash of light, and they were back on the road. Paradox swerved, and car horns honked all around them. They'd hit the city in the middle of the day. Sherry slowly relaxed her hold on him.

"Take the next exit!" she shouted over traffic. Paradox crossed three lanes and barely managed to get to the exit amongst more car horns. Only minutes later, they were navigating the city, with its yellow-white houses and red-tiled roofs so unlike Neo Domino.

"We need to get to the suburbs," Sherry said. She guided him through the streets of the city with the kind of easy familiarity that said she'd spent a lot of time here, even though, by her own admission, it had been years since she'd been in Europe, let alone France. They crossed a river, then a canal, and Paradox felt like he'd seen most of the city by the time Sherry told him to stop and look for a place to leave Delta Eagle.

"We're close to our principal lab," she said when they stopped, jumping off the D-Wheel and taking off her helmet. A few strands of hair had gotten loose from her braids, and she impatiently tucked them behind her ears. The trip seemed to have left her a bit winded, but otherwise okay. Paradox asked her about it anyway, just to make sure. He didn't need her freaking out about traveling through time.

"It was weird at first," she admitted, "but actually, it's kind of cool." She smiled at him and looked around. "It's strange being in Carcassonne again, though."

"When was the last time?" Paradox asked.

"When I was ten? We never actually went to the lab." She shrugged. "Mizoguchi probably knows better than I do."

They left Delta Eagle on a nearby parking lot, after Paradox had made doubly sure the D-Wheel was fully locked up and secured. Antinomy wouldn't be happy if anything happened to his D-Wheel, and an angry Antinomy was one Paradox very much didn't want to face. When it came to his D-Wheel, his friend had a nasty temper.

After a five-minute walk they arrived at the building Sherry had been looking for all this time, a tall building with glass doors and wide windows that had _Leblanc laboratoire de recherche_ written above the main doorway. Paradox eyed it warily.

"Are they just going to let us in?"

"Let me," Sherry said, opening the doors and striding up to the front desk of the building. She greeted the receptionist with a curt, " _Bonjour,_ " and struck up a conversation in rapid French that Paradox didn't even bother to understand. He didn't speak French. He wondered how she was going to explain his presence when he so obviously didn't belong here, but Sherry seemed to have no problem with it, because less than five minutes later they were walking towards the elevator, both with a name badge. Paradox's, predictably, read Leander di Velia, while Sherry's had Eva De Wit written on it. A fake name she used sporadically, she explained in whispered Japanese.

"It's a bit transparent, but people won't be able to trace me back to myself here anyway," she said as the elevator took them to the fifth floor. The doors slid open soundlessly and they found themselves in a long corridor, virtually identical to all the labs Paradox had ever worked in. Sherry frowned.

"My parents would usually be in the main lab..." She looked around. "I think it was on this floor."

"You're not sure?"

"It's been so many years..." She made a frustrated noise. "I used to know this place like the back of my hand. We should find someone to help us."

Not an easy task. It was lunch hour, and the place looked deserted. The walked through the corridor in silence and rounded the corner into another, identical-looking one. Paradox looked at Sherry and shrugged. They might as well keep going.

Halfway through the corridor, a door opened, and a pink-and-white blur shot out, running past them and then pausing as it noticed them.

" _Bonjour!_ " chirped the child. She was wearing a bright pink dress with white socks. She had a matching pink bow in her blond hair, and Paradox found that the whole ensemble clashed rather horribly with her green eyes— Wait.

He glanced at Sherry, who was staring at the girl with a kind of horrified fascination. " _Bonjour,_ " she said after several long seconds. " _Tu t'appelles comment?_ "

" _Je m'appelle Sherry Leblanc!_ "

He understood that much French, at least. So this was Sherry when she was a kid? He tried to suppress a grin. Talk about differences.

"You wanted a guide," he told Sherry. She glared at him. Her tiny younger version was staring up at them expectantly.

" _Vous vous appelez comment?_ " she asked.

" _Eva,_ " said Sherry. " _Lui, il s'appelle Leander. Est-ce que tu es la fille de monsieur et madame Leblanc_?"

" _Oui_!"

"I'll ask her if she knows where the main lab is," she said to Paradox, then crouched low and talked in rapid French with her counterpart. By the end of the conversation, the little girl was almost jumping up and down in excitement.

" _Alors, le labo principal, tu sais c'est où?_ "

" _Ben ouais, bien sûr! Suivez-moi!_ "

The little girl skipped ahead of them happily, leading them to the sixth floor — apparently they'd gotten off at the wrong floor after all — and turning around when they reached the end of the corridor.

" _Voilà!_ " she announced with a grand gesture. " _On y est!_ "

"We're here," Sherry translated quickly, leaning closer to him. Little Sherry looked between the two of them curiously. She gestured for her older version, who crouched low.

" _Est-il ton petit-ami?_ " she asked, nodding at Paradox.

" _Non!_ " Sherry vehemently shook her head. Was she blushing? Paradox bent closer, which only served to increase her blush.

"What'd she say?" he asked.

"Nothing! She's just joking around," Sherry said. She regained her composure, but the child wasn't done yet.

" _Si! Regardez, elle pique un fard!_ " she said triumphantly to Paradox. He glanced at Sherry for a translation, but she stubbornly refused.

"She's being silly," she only said by way of explanation. " _Sherry, le labo, c'est par là?_ "

" _Oui,_ " the little girl said with a frown. " _Il faut pas mentir,_ " she added. Sherry sighed.

" _Il n'est pas mon petit-ami._ "

The girl, with all the wisdom of a three-year old, just stared at her for a very long time. Paradox shifted. Were they going to go inside the lab or not? Maybe he should've paid better attention to Chiasma when she had been trying (and failing) to teach them French, but it wasn't as if he needed it anyway. He'd never been very good at languages. Japanese and English were more than enough for him to get by. It had been hard enough to adapt to the altered form of Japanese they spoke in the past, and he'd learned most of his English from research papers; adding French to the mixture was one bridge too far for him.

"Sherry? Are we going in?"

"Right," she said, and asked her younger self, " _Papan... Ton papan est là-dedans?_ "

The girl nodded and toddled towards the double doors separating the lab from the corridor. She pushed, but they didn't budge, so she turned pleading eyes on them. Paradox stepped forwards and opened them for her. They were heavier than he'd expected. No wonder three-year-old Sherry hadn't been able to open them.

Much like the corridors, the lab was exactly like the ones he was used to, though some of the equipment he could spot easily was a little outdated for his tastes. It was only 2012. It wasn't like he should have expected anything more; the big development boom that Momentum had brought with it had had some effect already, but the major effects would only be visible in another decade or so. Sherry halted in the door opening, looking around.

"I remember this," she said in a whisper, and she looked so sad Paradox wanted to comfort her somehow, but he didn't know how. Her younger counterpart didn't notice.

" _Papan!_ " she shouted. Across the lab, a man looked up. Sherry's father? Yes, one look at Sherry's face told him as much.

"Sherry," the man said, smiling. He put down the papers he'd been reading and walked over. The little girl held out her arms and he picked her up.

"Good afternoon," he said in English after taking a look at their name tags. "Can I help you?"

Sherry was staring. Paradox took over from her.

"Yes. Mr. Leblanc, right? We were hoping you could give us some insight in your—" he cast a quick look around the lab and tried to remember what Chiasma had worked on so many years ago, "—microbiology work. My partner and I are doing a doctoral project."

"I see," Sherry's father said. "Yes, of course. May I ask which university you are affiliated with?" He looked at Sherry. "Ms. De Wit? Are you from Leiden or Leuven University, by any chance?"

Sherry snapped out of her stupor. " _Université de Liège,_ " she said, something about the tone of her French shifting. " _Désolée, je suis francophone, pas néerlandophone._ "

 _"Ah, vous êtes wallone!_ " her father said. " _Et votre collègue..._ "

 _"Il est japonais. Etudiant d'échange._ "

 _"_ Then we'll switch to English for his sake." Mr. Leblanc lifted his daughter onto his shoulders. Next to Paradox, Sherry clenched a hand. "Mr. di Velia. Quite a strange name for someone from Japan."

"My father's family was Italian," Paradox said without missing a beat. It was a very old cover story, one he'd already repeated countless times in the past. Antinomy had his own that involved German immigrants. "I was born in Japan, though."

"Then you are a very long way from home. I hope you're feeling welcome here." he smiled up at his daughter. "I see my little girl has already given you the tour of the building?"

"She was very nice," Paradox said. The little girl smiled widely. Apparently she did understand some very basic English.

"I'm glad to hear it," Sherry's father said. "Now, microbiology, you said?" They followed him as he gave them a tour through the lab, with Sherry asking questions Paradox was sure she already knew the answer to, just to keep him talking. Halfway through the explanation of an electron microscope that Paradox actually found mildly interesting, little Sherry waved from on top of her father's shoulders.

" _Maman!_ " she shouted. Paradox looked over his shoulder. A pretty woman who was clearly Sherry's mother came walking towards them. Her hair was almost the exact shade of blond as Sherry's, and even though her eyes were a different color, they had the same shape. Sherry looked pained upon seeing her.

" _Bonjour, ma chérie,_ " she said to the little girl. She gave them a quick look, then addressed her husband. " _On a des visiteurs?_ "

"From the university of Liège," her husband replied, once more in English. "Ms. De Wit, Mr. di Velia, this is my wife."

" _Enchantée,_ " Sherry said.

"It's a pleasure."

"My, so polite." Sherry's mother smiled. "Let me give you a hand." She frowned at Sherry. "Ms. De Wit, are you okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Sherry said. She didn't look fine, like her mother had said. Paradox was starting to think this might have been a bad idea after all. Was the stress of seeing her parents just too much to handle for her? Or was it having to pretend that they weren't her parents?

"If you're sure," Mrs. Leblanc said. "Are you sure you don't want a glass of water?"

"It's fine," Sherry repeated. "Mr. Leblanc, you mentioned a new type of microscope you were developing? How are you dealing with the imaging problems?"

"That's a good question." And Sherry's father was talking again, this time with input of his wife. Around one o' clock, the lab filled up again with all the workers who came back from lunch, many of whom had their own input to give, and one who went on a long tangent about studying in Belgium.

"Have you ever been to Liège?" Paradox asked in whispered Japanese, somewhere in the middle of a description of the food and how tomatoes and shrimp were a pretty good combination once you got used to it, but tuna and peaches together were still gross.

"Never," Sherry whispered back, smiling and nodding at the scientist. Paradox did the same.

"Right, thank you," Mrs. Leblanc said halfway through another tangent, this time about, of all things, bus passes. "Ms. De Wit, would you like to see the upper labs?"

"We'd love to," Sherry said. Mr. Leblanc put his daughter back on the ground, and the five of them left the lab to take the elevator to the tenth floor.

"The lower floors are mostly office space," Mrs. Leblanc said once the elevator doors closed. "Strictly confidential, though. You'll need an access code just to get out on those floors, so you'll understand if we don't show them to you."

"Of course," Sherry said, nodding. "Thank you. You're going above and beyond to help us already."

"Our pleasure." The elevator doors slid open again, once more to an identical corridor. Were these floor plans built just to confuse people?

" _J'suis fatiguée,_ " little Sherry told him. He looked at Sherry for a translation.

"She's tired."

So what was he supposed to do about that? He gave the little girl a quizzical look. She stretched out her arms.

" _Sherry, il ne faut pas déranger mr. di Velia,_ " her father said sternly. The girl pouted.

" _Mais j'suis fatiguée!_ " she said. Mr. Leblanc sighed and picked her up again.

"I'll have to take her home," he told his wife, still in English, for their benefit. "Can you handle things here?"

"Of course." She kissed the little girl on the forehead. Sherry looked away with a pained expression. "I'll see you both tonight."

Her husband turned back to the elevator, his daughter in his arms. The little girl waved at them over his shoulder.

"Mr. Leblanc!" Sherry said in a rush. Her father turned around. "It— It was a pleasure meeting you. I'm glad we came here."

"The pleasure's all mine," Mr. Leblanc said, looking slightly confused by her outburst. "Good luck with your studies, Ms. De Wit."

"I— Yes, thank you." Sherry looked defeated. She looked after her father until the elevator doors closed, then followed her mother to the labs, Paradox in tow. She definitely wasn't dealing with this very well.

The rest of the tour went much the same way as the first hour had gone. Once you'd seen one lab, you'd pretty much seen them all. By three o' clock, Sherry had run out of questions and was clearly resorting to repeating the same questions over and over again, just in slightly different variations. Mrs. Leblanc seemed to have noticed too, because she concluded the tour just a little while later, taking both of them back to the ground floor. Sherry was dragging her feet, trying to delay her mother with increasing desperateness.

"Sherry," he said in Japanese, "we need to go back to Neo Domino."

"No, we don't," she said, something wild in her eyes. "It's time travel, right? It doesn't matter when we leave, only when we arrive, doesn't it?"

He found it hard to argue with that. She was perfectly right, only they wouldn't be able to stay here much longer without attracting suspicion. They'd only gotten in on flimsy credentials at best. It wouldn't take much longer before someone ran a background check and realized there were no such people as Eva De Wit and Leander di Velia working together on microbiology.

"I hope we were able to help," Mrs. Leblanc said when they reached the reception desk. "Good luck in the future, to both of you."

Paradox didn't repeat the sentiment, and neither did Sherry. Mrs. Leblanc studied her.

"You really don't look too good, honey. Are you sure you're not coming down with something?" she said. Sherry shook her head.

"Thanks for the concern, but I'll be fine."

"Take tomorrow off," she advised. "You don't want to get sick over the summer."

"All right," Sherry said. She took a deep breath. "Thank you for showing us around, Mrs. Leblanc. It was a pleasure meeting you."

"And you. Take care, you two." She shook hands with both of them and turned on her heels, walking back to the elevator.

" _Adieu_ , _maman_ ," Sherry whispered. She turned abruptly and walked towards the glass sliding doors leading outside. Paradox hurried to catch up with her.

"Are you okay?" he asked once they were back outside. Sherry nodded, but she was blinking furiously and looking back at the building with something that could only be described as longing. Maybe they shouldn't have come here. Seeing people long dead was always very confronting. Paradox had never gone to see his family, even though they were alive and well in this timeline. His parents would be in their their early teens now. It was too strange to even think about. Fortunately they were in Nara, far away from here.

"I just needed to see them," Sherry said in a choked voice. "Just once... Say goodbye for real."

And suddenly she was crying. "Hey, it's okay!" Paradox said quickly, feeling more than a little alarmed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders for lack of anything better to do, and she turned to him, crying silently against his chest. He patted her on the back awkwardly.

"Do you want to get a drink?" he asked after several minutes. Sherry nodded, but still didn't look up. Only after another minute did he feel her shudder, take a deep breath, and pull away. He let her go, but kept a hand on her back.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Sorry about that," she said. Her voice still sounded hoarse. "I was so afraid they were going to recognize me, and I still kind of wanted them to recognize me... You know?" she said weakly. "But I guess they didn't. I shouldn't have expected them to, should I?"

 _No, probably not_ , Paradox thought, but he didn't say it. Most people wouldn't have recognized Sherry as the little girl with her pink dress.

"I'm sorry for bothering you with this," she said.

"It's fine."

"I really do want to save them," she said quietly as they walked back in the direction of where they'd left Delta Eagle, "but I need to know why they were killed first. If I don't know, there's nothing I can do to prevent it from happening again."

 _Aporia, what have you done?_ he thought. Sure, it wasn't like Paradox hadn't killed his fair share of people himself, but killing the Leblancs seemed totally pointless. He glanced down at Sherry. But what if Aporia _had_ had a good reason for killing Sherry's parents? Would he be able to refuse Sherry the chance to save them? Well, that was a stupid question. Of course he'd be able to. The real question was whether she'd be able to forgive him for it. He suspected he already knew the answer.

He shook his head briefly. Getting attached to people was a bad idea; he'd told Antinomy as much himself. He probably shouldn't be caring this much. He liked Sherry, yes, but it wouldn't matter one bit if she or her parents ever endangered their mission.

"Let's go home," he said. They walked back to where Delta Eagle was parked in silence and found it thankfully unharmed. It was still night when they appeared back in Neo Domino, and the board computer told him it was almost three. Nearly an hour after they'd left. Not as good as Paradox had hoped, but at least they hadn't been away for too long.

They entered the apartment block silently and left Delta Eagle in the garage.

"You going to sleep?" Sherry asked as they made it to the living room

"Don't think so." He was still too keyed up from the day. He looked at Sherry, standing in the doorway. She was wearing a complicated expression. Her hair had come loose from the intricate braids she'd tied it in.

"What're you gonna do?" She walked over and sat down next to him. Paradox shrugged.

"Nothing much." He gestured at his laptop. "Maybe I'll get some work done."

"Mmm, I suppose," Sherry said. She straightened up, putting her hand on his arm for balance. He tried not to read too much into it. Sherry was pretty, very pretty, but those kinds of things were too dangerous for them. It never ended well. Even if Sherry knew far more about what they were doing than any of his previous partners ever had. "Or you could come up with me."

Paradox froze. He definitely hadn't heard that right.

"Sorry?"

"Or you could come up with me," Sherry repeated. Her hand tightened on his shirt sleeve. "Don't tell me you're not interested."

"I'm—" definitely interested. Definitely very interested. He could feel himself flush. But this was such a bad idea. "You've had a tough day. You should sleep."

"You think I'm gonna sleep now?" She was very very close now. "I just want to forget about all this bullshit for a while and I'm pretty sure you do too. So. Wanna come up?"

"I don't do relationships."

"Neither do I. It's just a thing, don't make a big deal out of it." Sherry leaned over, face inches from his. "So?"

The last few times he'd slept with someone, it had been to keep his cover, or to pretend he was an actual part of whatever group he happened to be working with at the time. And however enjoyable some of those encounters had been, it had always left him with a bitter aftertaste. But Sherry already knew about their plans. He didn't have to pretend to be someone he wasn't. It was getting harder and harder to remember why this was a bad idea.

"So?" Sherry asked again, and for the first time there was something like uncertainty in her voice. Paradox swallowed. His entire body felt like a live wire. He slowly reached out and cradled the back of her head.

"Yeah, okay."

 **OOoOo**

The second round of the WRGP started with them slaughtering their competition. With that out of the way, Plácido saw very little reason to continue paying attention, not even when José started commenting on the procedures. One annoying MC in the tournament was more than enough, thank you very much.

"That's interesting," José said. Plácido paid him no heed. He'd only just managed to fix himself up in time for their duel after his unfortunate encounter with an Earthbound God. How was it that the Earthbound Gods had even been able to do that? Take over their hosts, yes, but Aslla Piscu shouldn't have cared about its host this much. It shouldn't have wanted to protect Nagisa. It could have easily found another host—the loss of Nagisa shouldn't have affected it.

"Antinomy is dueling," José said again, louder this time. Plácido sighed and pulled up the screen to humor him. Another day, another duel. He usually tried to make it a point to at least follow the duels of Team Chevalier and 5D's, but he really couldn't care less right now.

"He finally got to duel, then?"

"Yes. The girl lost her match."

The girl… Sherry Leblanc. She continued to be a thorn in their side, just like her parents had been. He still didn't know why she'd had the Z-ONE card, and now she was even more adamant about figuring out what it meant. Why Paradox and Antinomy had teamed up with her, why they actually seemed to trust her, was a complete mystery to him.

"How's the circuit?" he asked. He had no interest in dwelling on people who couldn't keep their nose out of things that weren't their business, and weren't there far too many of those lately?

"See for yourself. It's coming along."

Plácido minimized the screen that showed Antinomy's ongoing duel. It was hardly worth watching. The data of the circuit proved to be far more interesting, if a bit disappointing.

"It's going too slow," he said. Yes, at this rate, they'd only have enough duel energy after the end of the WRGP. That'd mean a significant setback in their plans, even now that Paradox and Antinomy had finally stopped being annoying about the Ark Cradle.

"It might change," José said, staring intently at Antinomy's match. "Antinomy being there… That should give us a significant boost."

"How's that?" Sure, Antinomy was a good duelist, but he wouldn't be providing them with significantly more energy than any other duelist participating in the tournament.

José smiled a very rare smile. "Pay attention to the screen," he said.

In the tournament, Antinomy had summoned that pink monster of his. His opponent, whom the screen labeled as a woman named Okamoto Mayu, had two monsters on the field, no Synchros, but powerful enough monsters in their own right. It had the potential to be a nasty situation for Antinomy. It most likely wouldn't be.

José turned up the sound just as Antinomy said, "—Catapult Dragon to the field, and through its effect I can special summon Tech Genus Warwolf!"

Both monsters, utterly unalike in appearance, took their place on the field. Antinomy's opponent didn't look particularly impressed.

"So now what?" she asked. "You Synchro summon again?"

"Yep." Antinomy grinned. "Synchro Flight Control! Limiter Removal, Level Five, Booster Injection 120%. Recovery Network Range Updated! All Clear! Go! Synchro Summon! Come on! Power Gladiator!"

He ended his turn with a face-down card, leaving the stadium whispering and the announcer confused. He had two Synchro monsters, but neither of them could stand up to his opponent's monsters. He'd lose both of them during the very next turn. Plácido sighed at the idiocy of the MC. Couldn't he at least do some basic research before he started making stupid comments like these?

Antinomy's opponent took her turn then. José smiled, as did Antinomy on-screen. He sped up. Plácido sighed and looked away from the screen. More dramatics he didn't particularly need. Antinomy, for all that he'd gone through the same as they had, had an unexpected passion for dramatics that he'd never entirely lost, and nowhere did it show more clearly then when he was doing his summoning thing when he was taking part in another duel.

He disappeared.

 _Ladies and gentlemen, this is unprecedented! Timothy Kant, Team Chevalier's second rider, has just disappeared in the middle of a duel! Is this the end of his part in the tournament? Do we get to see not only Team Chevalier's second rider, but also their third rider today?_

"Oh, just shut up and watch," Plácido gritted out. Indeed, not two seconds later Antinomy's return was announced by a massive boom and, more annoyingly, the short-circuiting of every screen in the stadium, including their own.

"I knew there was something we'd forgotten to fix," José muttered. Plácido poked at his screen, but it was only picking up static. A glimmer to his right caught his eye. There was one working screen left among the mess of static. The screen with the duel energy input for the circuit. And it was going completely haywire.

"Hey, did you see that?" he shouted at José. José smiled.

"I can imagine what's happening," he said. "How is the circuit looking now?"

Rather a bit better, Plácido had to admit. There had been such a massive influx of dueling energy all of a sudden that the circuit would easily be completed before the end of the WRGP. Turned out Antinomy was useful for something after all. If he could take part in a few more duels before the end of the tournament, they'd see the Ark in just a few weeks.

"Hey, think we could get that chick out of the tournament?" he asked. Team Chevalier's records didn't lie. Sherry Leblanc was a strong duelist—far too strong for their purposes. What they really needed was for Antinomy to Accel Synchro summon as often as he could.

"I don't think they'd appreciate that," José said. Plácido sighed. Was absolutely everyone getting sentimental on him these days? The kid still hadn't left his room—it had been days since they'd seen Mom, and he still hadn't gotten over it. They'd practically had to drag him out of it just so they could take part in their own duels, and even then, he'd beaten their opponents with only the bare minimum of effort. It was pathetic, really. Good thing the Ark needed duel energy, not showmanship.

And now Paradox and Antinomy were getting attached to that woman. Even Z-one had been reluctant to let her come to any harm. Were they missing something again? It wouldn't be the first time Z-one had tampered with their memories. Antinomy wasn't the only one of them who'd been suffering from memory loss. One day they'd have to drag the whole story out of Z-one, whether he wanted them to or not. This was, frankly, ridiculous.

"Oh, look," José said. The screens came to life again, and there was Antinomy with his Accel Synchro monster. Still more intimidating than he'd like it to be. His opponent looked utterly baffled. Somewhere in the background, the announcer was discussing the legality of Blade Gunner, but since the tournament technology had accepted the card as valid, the consensus seemed to be that he was allowed to go through with the summon. Plácido snorted. He couldn't even be sure if Antinomy had just hacked the system to ensure that he could use his fancy cards or, bleeding heart that he was, had actually somehow gone through the process of having the card declared legal. Either way, he now had a 3000 ATK monster on his field and his opponent was thoroughly outgunned.

"He's going to win," said José. Plácido shut off his own screen. Of course he was going to win. It really wasn't even worth watching anymore. He almost reconsidered, if only to see the smackdown that was sure to come, but knowing Antinomy, he'd make it as nice and gentle as he could. He definitely had better things to do with his time.

"So, when can we expect the Ark now?"

"Definitely by the time we get to the finals of the World Dueling Grand Prix," José concluded. "Their opponents will get stronger from here on out. The Leblanc girl won't be able to handle all of them on her own anymore."

"Good." And Plácido relaxed. Their own day of matches was in two days. Tomorrow they would be seeing Team 5D's trying to make its way to the quarter-finals. Did it even matter whether they did or not? They'd lost the psychic girl on their team. They'd never make it to the finals anyway, and if they did, well, it wasn't going to benefit them, was it?

 **oOoOo**

"Have you ever seen spirits?" Johan asked. They were sitting cross-legged across from each other on the carpet in Johan's living room. Johan had told her that his own Gem Beasts had left the room. It meant that apart from the two of them, the room should be completely empty.

"No," she replied. "Only when the Crimson Dragon was around, or the Earthbound Gods or... Wait, actually, there was one time." She'd only told this to Yusei, but, "Ruka-chan was in a very dangerous duel a while ago, and when she was about to get hit, her spirits shielded her. I'm sure I saw them."

Johan smiled encouragingly. "They do that," he said. "Ruka-chan is your friend who can see spirits?"

"Yeah, but she can see them all the time. I only saw them that one moment."

"It's a lot better than most who start out." Johan unfolded his legs. "I don't usually give this explanation to everyone, and to be honest, I don't know the full details, but I think you might need it. Not everyone who has psychic powers has the innate potential for them. Quite a few people gain them from outside forces. Your Signer birthmarks are a pretty good example, actually. Anyone on your team who doesn't have any special powers, apart from that birthmark?"

"Crow," she said immediately. "And... I think Yusei and Jack too. I mean, Ruka-chan could always see spirits and I..."

"You were born with your powers, yes." Johan said. "At most, your Signer mark only boosted them. In the end, it is very hard to take away the powers of someone who was born with them. Judai..." He sighed. Aki waited patiently for him to continue.

"The year before I met Judai, apparently he got into some trouble. Lost the ability to see his spirits. I only learned about it after the fact, of course." Johan smiled the same sad smile he always gave when the subject of Judai came up. "But like I was saying, he eventually regained his Sight. It's very hard to block it completely.

"So your powers aren't actually gone, as you probably already realized. They're going to try to find a way to the surface. Any way, really, so we might as well try to guide them as best as possible."

Aki nodded. She could feel it, sometimes, when she tried to use her powers. They were there, trying to push their way to the surface, but never succeeding. If she kept it up for too long, she just ended up with a massive headache.

"How do you know all this?" she asked.

"A lot of trial and error. Me, I only see spirits. I could never do anything remotely like you, and I don't want to know what it would be like to have this blocked."

His shudder at the idea wasn't exaggerated. "Let's get back to the spirits," he said, looking a bit pale. Aki nodded fervently. Seeing him this uncomfortable was making her uncomfortable as well.

"The fact that you've already seen spirits is a very good thing. It means you have an idea of what to expect. Too many people expect their monsters to look exactly like the card art."

"It's not like that," Aki said, shaking her head. Yeah, the very basics were the same, of course, but the way a monster moved, the expressions it showed... None of those things showed up on their cards.

Johan smiled. "Keep that in mind." He closed his eyes and Aki followed his example. "With your eyes closed, you're not going to see much," he sounded regretful, "but it's good to get you in the right state of mind. Don't expect to see anything at first, but close your eyes, try to forget everything about the room, then open them again. See if anything changed. If you see anything new."

Aki took a deep breath, letting the darkness wash over her and trying to suppress the rising feeling of anxiety in her throat and stomach.

"Don't be scared of what you might see when you open your eyes," Johan instructed, "and don't be disappointed when you don't see anything at all either."

She opened her eyes. The room looked exactly the same to her. Something blue shifted in the corner of her eyes, but when she looked, it was just the light from outside playing off the curtains. Johan followed her gaze.

"Try again," he suggested. She did, closing her eyes once more and erasing the view of the room from her mind as best as she could. She opened them again, again to the same flash of blue and the curtains reflecting the sunlight.

"Your curtains are distracting," she complained. Johan looked at the curtains, then looked back at her and gave her a mild smile.

"Are they?" he said. "Try again. You're doing very well."

Aki sighed and closed her eyes a third time. It was getting progressively harder to forget what the room actually looked like. Johan had said not to worry if it didn't work out right away, but it still bothered her. What if she never learned? What if she was just going to have to live with her powers being blocked for the rest of her life? The worst part was that they were so close to the surface, and yet they couldn't break through. She tried to prod at them, maybe reroute them somehow, anything at all, but nothing worked. With a heavy sigh, she opened her eyes again. Still nothing but the stupid curtains, being all blue and... move-ey.

"Can't you close them?" she asked. Johan glanced back at them and shook his head.

"I think it's better if we keep them open for now. It'll give you more light to work with."

Whatever. Aki closed her eyes abruptly. An hour later, she still hadn't made any progress and the curtains were _still right there_. If she ever got a place of her own, she was never going to get blue curtains. Her legs had fallen asleep from sitting cross-legged for so long, and she moved them with great difficulty. Johan was still sitting in front of her, looking completely unperturbed.

"Why are we doing this anyway? What's the use?" she asked. "You said the Gem Beasts aren't even in the room."

"They aren't," Johan replied. "Now, once more. You're doing amazing, by the way."

Aki hadn't noticed anything spectacular about her performance at all, unless he meant her ability to sit cross-legged in the same position for an hour. Once more, she closed her eyes. She'd already lost count of how many times she'd done this. And since the curtains were still right there, she decided she might as well look straight at them this time. They weren't going away anyway.

She opened her eyes. Blue Rose Dragon stared back at her.

"Uh—" She looked at Johan, who was still smiling, then back. The dragon was gone. "Wait, where did—"

"Saw it, didn't you?" Johan said with a laugh. "Don't worry. Try again."

When she closed her eyes this time, she focused with all her might. Something was here. Blue Rose Dragon was here. If she could just concentrate, if she didn't let it out of her sight again...

Something, somewhere deep inside snapped. Aki opened her eyes.

"Hello," she said to Blue Rose Dragon.

"And there we go." Johan unfolded his legs and applauded softly, but Aki was too busy staring at the small dragon to pay attention to him. Blue Rose Dragon chirped happily, her wings flapping furiously so she could keep level with Aki. For a second, Aki risked looking away. When she looked back, the dragon — her partner? — was still there.

"How long has she been here?" she asked Johan. "Wait, the curtain thing was—?"

"The entire time," Johan said. "And yep. You've been seeing her move around for most of the hour. I guess it would have been better if my curtains weren't blue, huh?"

Aki was too busy staring at her monster to pay him much attention. With Blue Rose Dragon now fully visible, she could see how her wings were almost the exact same shade of blue as Johan's curtains.

"So all that time it was really you?" she asked. The dragon chirped and nodded.

"Aki, Ruby's back in the room. Can you see her?" Johan asked. She reluctantly tore her eyes away from Blue Rose Dragon and looked around the room. There was something, like a shimmer or a heat haze to the right of Johan's head, but she couldn't make out the shape.

"There's something," she said with a shake of her head. "But I can't see what it is."

"No, I didn't think you would. That's fine. Most people only see the monsters they're close to." Johan looked happy. "You're still one of the fastest students I've had so far. Congratulations, Aki. You can now see spirits.

* * *

Author Appeal: The Chapter

Ginneke, Liège is for you (the rest is for me).

(Translation of the French available upon request. First person to figure out why Sherry chose that name gets a virtual cookie).

 **Next chapter:** Carly and Yusei are feeling out of it.


	16. XIV - Storm

**XIV. Storm**

For once in his life, it was Crow who was still up at 2 am, not Yusei. Yusei had gone to bed early, as he had the last few days, and meanwhile insomnia had hit Crow like a ton of bricks. And so he was idly browsing through some video feed on one of the many laptops strewn around the house. Their next WRGP match would take place in three days. It would be the first one he'd play in the tournament at all. Yusei and Jack had been able to take care of all of their matches even with his arm broken and Aki gone. The next match would be the first one they'd play as a complete team.

Back when they'd been preparing for the WRGP, he'd never imagined just how much waiting the whole thing involved. If they were lucky, they got to play one or two matches a week. The other six days, they could do little more than watch and train. Yusei had taken to religiously following Team Chevalier's matches, but Bruno had only dueled once so far, and the duel itself had lasted exactly three turns. Then, Bruno had summoned his Accel Synchro monster and finished off his opponent with a kind of cold detachment that had made Crow shiver.

The messenger program pinged. Who was messaging him at this hour? Crow paused his video.

 _Hey Crow, how're you doing?_

Crow smiled. Ah yes, of course Aki would still be awake. It was early evening back in Europe.

 _gud u?_ He typed back. Aki's answer took a while.

 _Do you have time to chat?_ Her reply finally came. Crow glanced around. It _was_ 2 am, but he was down in the garage, and separated from Jack and Yusei's rooms by two floors. They wouldn't wake up, as long as he wasn't too loud.

 _sure_

Aki's chat invite came almost immediately. Crow lowered the volume on his headphones and answered the call. When Aki appeared on screen, the image took a moment to settle itself, and Crow realized she was moving her laptop around to get a better view. She was wearing a soft-looking red sweater and her hair was brushed back. He'd never seen her this casual.

"Aki, hey! What's up?" he greeted her. Aki-on-screen adjusted her headphones.

"Good! " she said with a smile. Only now did Crow get a good look of the room behind her. A one-person room, a bit larger than his room upstairs, but far smaller than the rooms in Aki's house. The walls had been painted a soft blue, and behind Aki, Crow could see a simple wooden bed. It all looked very Spartan.

"Is that your room?" he asked. Aki laughed.

"Yeah, this is the guest room. Johan says no one's stayed here since…" she trailed off and frowned. "Well, since Judai-san, apparently."

Right, Johan Andersen had been friends with Yuki Judai. "What's he like?" Crow asked. "Johan Andersen?"

"He's really nice!" Aki leaned backwards. "Oh, guess what?"

"What?"

Aki shook her head, grin firmly in place. "No, come on, you have to guess!"

Norway had done her good. She looked absolutely radiant. Crow smiled softly. "C'mon, that's not fair. I'm no good at guessing."

"Guess~" She drew out the last consonant. Crow gave up.

"You learned Norwegian?"

"Nope! Well, yes, a little, but it's far too difficult to learn properly. At least it's not Finnish, though." She made a face. "Did you know Finnish has fourteen declensions?"

"De-whatnow?"

"Declens— Oh, never mind, guess!"

"You made new friends?" That seemed like a safe enough guess.

Aki smiled a cat smile. "I suppose you could say that, yes."

"Does it have to do with your psychic powers?" he hazarded. Sure, she'd gone to Europe specifically to get them back, but she'd only been gone for five days. Could she really have gotten them back in that short a time period?

"Yes!" Aki said, face radiating happiness. Crow smiled fondly. He really did miss her, even though they were talking almost daily.

"You got your powers back? Already?" he said. "That's amazing!"

"Well… Not quite. But I can see spirits now!"

"Spirits?" Monster spirits, like Ruka could? Crow had none of Ruka's or Aki's powers, and while Jack now had Burning Soul, Yusei didn't have any special gifts either. Apart from birthmarks, they had nothing that made them different from any other human. Aki had had her psychic powers, until that accident had caused her to lose them. He really hoped she'd get them back completely. The sad Aki from back then was not one he ever wanted to see again.

"Yeah," Aki said, her voice soft and happy. "It took me almost all day today, but I can see them now. At least Blue Rose Dragon." Her eyes strayed away from the screen and focused on some point near the ceiling. Were there spirits in her room? Crow tried to take a good look at the place, sparsely furnished, but he couldn't see a thing. If he couldn't even see spirits in real life, he wasn't very likely to see them on webcam.

"Blue Rose Dragon?" Crow remembered the monster. He had a bit of a fondness for the critter and its likeness to his own Blackwing monsters. "Is it your spirit partner or something?"

"I believe so." Aki looked down again, but she still wasn't looking at the screen. Instead, her attention was focused on her lap. Crow could hazard a pretty good guess as to where the dragon was now.

"So how is Norway?" he asked. Aki looked up, idly petting the dragon.

"It's really great! I haven't been able to see much of the country, though." Aki petted the spirit in her lap. At least, that was what Crow assumed she was doing. Maybe she just felt like moving her hand back and forth in thin air. "And I wish I'd been able to duel more, but I don't have my D-Wheel, and I still don't have a new suit."

"When will you get a new one?" Crow took a sip from his drink. Aki's D-wheel was still standing in the garage with them. Yusei had been making sure no harm came to it. He wondered if Aki would return in time for the end of the WRGP, but if she was going to stay there until she was able to summon that Rainbow Dragon, she'd probably miss it. Pity.

"Mom and Dad wanted to sue the tailor," Aki said. She put a hand on her chest. "Not enough protection, apparently. But they got a new tailor and they said it should be done soon. Of course, I won't have it until I get back to Japan." She frowned briefly. "I miss you guys."

"We miss you too." Things just weren't the same without Aki around. With Bruno gone, and Aki in Norway, the house had become very quiet. Yusei was either working on something or following the WRGP, and Jack spent more time outside than inside. Crow had grown up with Martha, and after that he'd been taking care of his kids. He wasn't used to silence anymore.

"So what's up? Anything happen? Did Yliaster do anything?"

"No, they're just advancing in the tournament. Bruno's dueled, though. Did his Accel Synchro thing."

"Did you talk to him?"

"I haven't talked to him at all since he left. Yusei's the only one of us who did."

Aki seemed to flinch. Crow chalked it up to a problem with the connection. "Who knows what he's up to, though. Yusei said he was gonna look into something and tell us if it was dangerous, but I guess it wasn't."

Aki busied herself with finding something on her desk. "Yeah, I guess," she said. Her voice was muffled. She resurfaced from next to the computer with her deck. "Ah, sorry, Blue Rose Dragon was being a bit annoying."

"Don't worry." Having a duel spirit did sound interesting. Crow wished he could see Blue Rose Dragon. Its antics had to be a sight worth seeing, if only for the novelty of seeing a duel monster outside a duel. Ruka had no problem seeing them, and now apparently Aki, on top of the not-negligible psychic powers she already possessed, could too. Sometimes being 'just' a Signer felt a bit boring, even though he'd never even expected to be a Signer a year ago.

"Aki! Do you want dinner?" someone shouted in the background. A man's voice, middle-aged from what Crow could gather.

"Just a minute!" Aki shouted back. She bit her lip. "That was Johan. Dinner's ready." she said. "I'll see you around?"

"Definitely! You gotta keep me up to date on your spirit thing!" Crow said, more enthused than he actually felt. They'd barely been talking for half an hour and she already had to go?

"I'll try to be around earlier tomorrow," Aki said. "Unless you guys have to go somewhere?"

"We were planning on training tomorrow," Crow said. Aki nodded.

"You'll be dueling in the next match?"

"Yeah, doctor said I'm allowed to now."

Aki smiled, her face radiant. "Great! I look forward to it!" She glanced at the door of her room. "Talk tomorrow?"

"You bet!"

Aki waved one last time at him and cut the connection. Crow leaned back in his chair. He hadn't quite realized just how much he'd missed her, but now that she was gone, it felt like a gap in his little world. How had their team fallen apart like this? At least Aki was happy. And that, he found himself thinking, was kind of a reward on its own.

 **oOoOo**

 _Did you ever find anything?_

He stared at the message. His old e-mail address, the one he'd used when living with Team 5D's, didn't technically exist anymore. Everyone who tried to send him an e-mail would get a nice notification that the message had bounced. But he'd kept track of it, and he still got pinged whenever someone tried to contact him through it. For the most part, that had been Yusei. The first week after leaving, he'd received plenty of messages, but he'd never replied, and after a while, they had stopped coming. Until today.

He shouldn't. He really really shouldn't. He couldn't tell Yusei about what would cause the appearance of the Machine Emperors, so there was nothing to talk about. He should just let Yusei think that the old e-mail address really wasn't active anymore. Let him think that he'd gone back on his word about telling him what was going on, or that there was really nothing to tell.

He pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead. Paradox would call him an idiot for even considering it. But Paradox wasn't around, and neither was Sherry, and he had a pretty good idea of what they were up to. He'd already given Paradox a fair amount of teasing for it, but that didn't change the issue at hand: he was lonely.

Even that wouldn't be too much of an problem, really. He'd been completely alone for large periods of his life, both this one and during his previous incarnation. He'd worked alone on so many projects, unable to contact his friends frequently for fear of giving away the game or drawing unwanted attention. Them all being in such close contact right now was nothing short of miraculous. It shouldn't be an issue. It wasn't. And yet.

He missed Yusei.

It really all boiled down to that, didn't it? He missed Yusei. The year he'd spent living with Team 5D's had been one of the most relaxing in his life, even with the burden of not knowing who he was and trying fruitlessly to recall all the things he was forgetting. Having Paradox back was great, but not quite the same. He could talk about their plans or their theories for hours with Paradox, but he wasn't a duelist. He wasn't a particularly great mechanic either and he certainly wasn't very inclined to stay up until two at night to discuss whatever article they'd managed to extricate from behind NDU's paywall, just for the fun of it.

He missed all that. He didn't regret quitting Team 5D's, but some days he missed Yusei so much it was almost a physical ache. He couldn't tell Yusei about what he'd discovered. But then again, did he need to?

He took a deep breath. He put his hands on the keyboard.

 _No, it was nothing. What have you been up to? Did you make any progress on reducing the aerodynamic drag?_

 **oOoOo**

There were voices floating up the stairs when Aki woke up, voices that didn't belong to anyone she knew. She blearily looked at the clock and instead found Blue Rose Dragon looking back at her. Somewhere during the night, the dragon had curled up like a cat next to her. She could almost feel the phantom weight.

"Good morning," she said softly. Blue Rose Dragon swished her tail in greeting. It had been three days since she'd first seen the dragon. She was slowly getting used to waking up with the monster next to her.

"Johan, I'm not saying it can't work," a woman was saying downstairs. Aki got up gingerly and started looking for her slippers. "but even if we manage to get through to Nine, we don't even know if Judai is there."

"Yeah, but they'll be able to get to Judai no matter where he is. It's just earth that's the problem," Johan replied. Aki exchanged looks with Blue Rose Dragon. What was the problem with earth? Something had to be, for Judai-san to be trapped, but no one'd ever properly explained it to her. Maybe this was a good opportunity. She finally found her slippers and made her way downstairs, expecting to see a full living room. However, when she entered, Johan was alone.

"Good morning," she said, looking around. "Uh, were there just people here?"

"Morning," Johan returned with a smile. "You heard them?"

Aki nodded, still looking around in confusion. She'd heard several voices, and all of those people couldn't have just disappeared. Johan's smile widened.

"You heard the Gem Beasts," he explained. "You're getting quite good at this, Aki."

"Oh, really?" She tried to focus properly, but she still couldn't see anything except for a shimmering in the air. Seeing spirits that weren't her own was still hard.

"G'morning, Aki," a gruff voice to her left said. She jumped a little and caught Johan's grin before he managed to school his expression.

"Topaz Tiger," he said, "but you'll get to know them all soon enough. Are you hungry?"

"You were talking about Judai-san, right?" Aki said instead of replying. She could eat later. "Do you have any news on him?"

Johan leaned back in his chair. "No, sadly, but we thought we might try to contact him somehow. If we can get through to Nine—"

"Nine?"

"Manjoume didn't explain this to you?" Johan shook his head. "What do you know?"

"Only that Judai-san is trapped in another world and can't return."

Johan sighed and grabbed a piece of paper from the eternal pile on the table. On it, he drew twelve circles of varying size. "There are twelve dimensions that we know of," he began. He wrote 'Earth' in a random circle. "Our universe is one of them. I'm calling it Earth but obviously it's a lot larger than that. Now, there was a time when crossing dimensions was fairly easy — sometimes a bit too easy."

Aki nodded. "But now Judai-san is trapped?"

"Yeah, he—" Johan frowned, absently writing the kanji for sand and dark in two other circles. "Do you know why Duel Academia moved to Neo Domino City?"

"Something happened to the island?" The move had happened before Aki was born, not too long after Zero Reverse.

"Imagine… Imagine doors," Johan said. "Usually they're almost closed, and not much can get through. That's what the holes between dimensions were like. But Zero Reverse suddenly blew them wide open."

"But you said they're closed now," Aki said. If they was open, then why would Judai-san be trapped in another world?

"Oh yes, they are. See, the island with Duel Academia on it was the easiest access point, but it wasn't the only one. There was a smaller one in Domino City. When Zero Reverse came by, for just a very brief instant, both the doors in Domino and at Duel Academia opened completely. As far as we know, that's when Judai and Yubel got sucked through. And then the energy from Zero Reverse _slammed_ it shut. It probably made the damage even worse in Domino. The backlash was too much for Duel Academia too. There was an active volcano there, and all the energy made it explode."

"No…" The entire school got destroyed? Why had she never heard about this?

"Don't worry, Judai had warned all of us in advance," Johan said, patting her hand. "There were very few people there, and the ones who were managed to evacuate in time. But now our entire dimension is closed off from all the other ones. It is extremely hard to get even the smallest messages through. Judai usually communicates with us through Nine."

"Is that another dimension?"

"You got it. They're highly advanced, and there's a clan of Different Dimension monsters that lives there. Even they can't get through to earth anymore without help, but they can easily go to all other dimensions, so they can usually find some way to send messages." Johan idly wrote a nine in one of the other circles. "I met a few of them, before Zero Reverse. Judai was good friends with them."

"But you said the door's closed. How are you getting anything through at all?"

"We're… basically doing the equivalent of slipping notes through the cracks." He grimaced. "At least, that's what Judai and the Different Dimension monsters are doing, because so far it's been a one-way conversation."

"He doesn't know you're looking for him at all?"

Johan fell silent. Aki immediately regretted her question.

"He doesn't even know we're alive." Johan got up gingerly. He almost robotically went to his cupboard, opened a drawer and got out a small folder. Aki accepted it carefully and flipped it open. She didn't really know what she was expecting, but it wasn't this: maybe three or four photocopies of small slips of paper, torn in various places from the looks of it. The notes were written in Japanese. She looked at Johan and he nodded.

 _Hey guys_

 _First off, me and Yubel are alive. Sorry for what happened, we're trying to find our way back but it's not gonna be easy. I've got a lead on some guys who might be able to help. Hope you're all okay and see you soon!_

 _Asuka_ _I did what I could_ _I couldn't_ _Fubuki was_ _I'm really sorry._

 _Judai_

Aki swallowed. There was no date on the note, but it had to have been sent shortly after Judai had disappeared. She flipped to the next page. The note on it was even shorter.

 _Found the guys, they're those D.D. Monsters from Nine, they can go pretty much everywhere! See y'all soon!_

 _Judai_

Johan sighed. Aki bit her lip. Obviously that hadn't worked out.

 _Hey guys_

 _Are you even getting these?_ _Cassia says earth's been blocked off for a while, must've been from Zero Reverse. They can't travel there at the moment. They say they need something stronger to break through._

 _… Johan, if you're reading this, Rainbow might be able to do it. I've written down what Cassia and Alexander told me, maybe it helps?_

 _Judai_

"The full explanation… Well, it's complicated and I'm not sure Judai understood all of it in the first place," Johan said. "There's a friend of Judai's who would've been able to understand it, but he was already living in another dimension when Zero Reverse hit, so we can't reach him either. Industrial Illusions looked into it, but we lost some of its support after Chairman Pegasus died. The new board just didn't know Judai like he did."

Aki nodded. The technical terms would be wasted on her anyway. Maybe Yusei would…? She swallowed and refocused her attention on the folder. There was only one more page. Aki hesitated, but she'd made it this far.

 _Hey guys_

 _So since I'm not seeing anything I'm assuming you're not getting this._ _You're all okay, please tell me you're okay_ _. … I'll keep looking. I'll make it back one day, I promise._

 _Yubel says hi._

 _Judai_

The note was considerably less weathered than the others had been. "That was three years ago," Johan said wearily. "Nothing else since. He's probably still alive though. Judai's got a knack for surviving."

"How would you get him back?" Aki asked. "Do you have to summon Rainbow Dragon on the island where Duel Academia was?"

Johan shook his head. "It would have been the best place before Zero Reverse, but it doesn't matter anymore now. Everything's sealed off. My backyard would work just as well."

"And then how would you find Judai?"

Johan stayed silent. Instead, another male voice replied, this one deeper and almost growling.

"He doesn't know."

"Topaz!" Johan hissed. Aki looked around and saw the outline of a tiger.

"What? It's been twenty years and you still don't have a plan."

"Ignore him," Johan said, but Aki couldn't. If Johan didn't have a plan, how was he ever going to find Judai-san? There were eleven worlds he'd have to look through, it was impossible!

"Isn't it dangerous?" she asked meekly.

"Oh, extremely, as Johan knows very well," said a woman's voice. Aki caught a glimmer of pinkish purple and the large outline of what appeared to be another feline. Ah, Amethyst Cat. Johan threw an irritated look over his shoulder.

"Guys, that's enough. We've been over this. If it's our only chance to find Judai—"

"Then maybe we should just give up on it!" said Amethyst Cat again. "It's been twenty years, Johan, it's not worth it!"

"He's my best friend—"

"And he's just gonna lead you into more danger! Again!"

"Enough!"

Aki shrunk into herself. She hadn't thought Johan Andersen could get angry, and yet. Johan took a deep breath and visibly relaxed his shoulders.

"I'm sorry Aki, I didn't mean to scare you. We've been over this more than enough," he said with a venomous glance off to some point to his left. Aki heard several unimpressed huffs. The Gem Beasts were probably right to be skeptical. Hell, _she_ was skeptical. Johan didn't have a plan and from what little she'd heard about the other dimensions, diving in headfirst was suicide. But at the same time…

"You know the future's in danger," she said carefully. Johan nodded.

"Yes. Judai told us."

"We thought— The guys and I, we thought Judai-san might be our best shot at changing things. Preventing the bad future from happening." She couldn't mention Bruno. Mentioning Bruno would lead to mentioning Paradox, and she'd been here for long enough to know that neither Johan nor the Gem Beasts had in any way forgiven him. Not that she blamed them.

Johan laughed mirthlessly. "He does have a knack for changing things, yes."

"I think we need him back," Aki soldiered on, heedless of the snorts of some of the Gem Beasts. She heard a small trilling sound nearby, almost encouraging. "But I can't summon Rainbow Dragon yet. And you can't go looking for him without a plan. So I'll work as hard as I can, as long as you all figure out what you need to find him."

Johan looked at her, his face inscrutable. Aki fought the urge to squirm. There was a long drawn-out sigh on her right and another Gem Beast, one she hadn't heard yet, said: "She's right. Johan isn't going to change his mind and we know that. We might as well be sure that we're ready when the time comes."

The corner of Johan's mouth twitched. He nodded slightly and turned away to gather up the papers on the table. "Yeah. I suppose it's high time."

 **oOoOo**

"Steph, you in there?"

Stephanie looked up from the dishes she'd been stacking in the dishwasher and peaked around the counter to find Carly standing at the entrance of the kitchen. She waved her in.

"What's up?"

Carly looked oddly uncomfortable, something she hadn't really been since the night they'd been looking for info on Timothy Kant. She'd refused to talk about exactly what had happened with Jack, only that they'd broken up and that she didn't want to see him. Stephanie felt like she should be overjoyed and certainly her crush on Jack was still very present, but Jack was too obviously hung up on Carly, so the few times he'd come by the café afterwards, she'd let him be.

"I was wondering if you were free tonight? I'm looking into some stuff and I could use your opinion."

"Yeah sure, Yaso-san's running the café tonight. We're not expecting a lot of people anyway."

Most people stuck to the restaurants and cafés closer to the WRGP stadium. It meant some revenue loss for them, but nothing they couldn't deal with and it gave them the time to follow the WRGP along with their regulars. Most people here were fans of Team 5D's, but 5D's wasn't dueling today, so it would be a calm night.

"I'll meet you outside at seven, that okay?"

Stephanie nodded and waved as she disappeared. The rest of the day was exactly as slow-going as she'd predicted, and when she ended her shift almost at seven on the dot, Carly was there waiting for her on the other side of the café, out of sight of the garage Team 5D's owned. Stephanie sighed.

"Jack-sama misses you, you know."

Carly's face hardened. "Yeah well, he could start by not lying to me."

Stephanie had no idea what that meant and Carly didn't tell her anything more. They walked to Carly's car and Stephanie slid into the passenger seat. "So what is it you needed my help for?"

Carly made a face. "I don't know… It's weird. Do you ever feel like something's different and you're the only one noticing it?"

Stephanie could truthfully say that she never had. "What do you mean?"

Carly held up her right hand, palm turned towards Stephanie. Running across it was the long, thin scar Stephanie had noticed before. She frowned. "What is it?"

"That scar, don't you see it?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Doesn't that look weird? I just woke up with it a few days ago!"

What? "Carly, you've always had that."

"No, I didn't!" Carly slammed her hands on the wheel in frustration. "There's another one on my stomach and I don't know how it got there!"

Stephanie didn't know about any scars on Carly's stomach, but she'd definitely seen the scar on her hand before. "Carly, really, it's always been there for as long as I've known you."

"It wasn't. I know it," Carly ground out. "I'll prove it. I know I can prove it!"

Stephanie didn't reply. This wasn't like Carly at all. Carly apparently didn't feel like talking anymore either, 'cause she didn't say another word for the entire drive to her flat, her hands clenched tightly around the wheel. When they arrived and entered the apartment, she went into a frenzy.

"I didn't have these scars as a kid, I'm certain." She opened a large folder of pictures on her laptop and found one that depicted Carly as a young girl, hands waving towards the camera. No scar.

"You don't know where you got it?"

That only seemed to set off Carly even further. "It just appeared! It wasn't there yesterday!" She scrolled furiously through the pictures. "Where is it, come on… Ah!"

She clicked open a picture. On it, Team 5D's and Carly at the beach. Carly was facing the photographer and smiling. She was wearing a bikini that perfectly showed the large, nasty-looking scar running across her stomach. Stephanie winced. That must've been bad. She honestly admired Carly for wearing a bikini with such a scar on her stomach.

"I don't know what that's meant to show, but—"

But Carly looked dumbfounded. "It wasn't there in that picture. I know it wasn't there! Stephanie, please," she turned around with pleading eyes. "Tell me I'm not going crazy!"

"I—" Stephanie didn't know what to say. "I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for it." Though what that could be, Stephanie had absolutely no clue. Carly let out a dry sob.

"I wish I could _remember_!"

"Remember what?"

Carly slumped, resting her head on her arms on the table. "There's this gap in my memory, Steph. There's a few weeks right after I met Jack, and I remember nothing about it. I asked Jack and I'm sure he knows, but he doesn't want to tell me!"

So that's what she'd meant about Jack lying. "What is the last thing you remember?" Stephanie asked carefully.

"I was working on an article and I was going to… I don't know, research something? I don't even know what it was about. And then nothing. And then everyone's suddenly working on rebuilding the City and Satellite and reuniting the two and I have no idea what happened!"

"Wait, you mean those attacks last year?"

Carly raised her head. "Attacks?"

"Yeah, it was everywhere! This massive building in the middle of the city got destroyed entirely!"

Carly's eyes widened. "I… Don't know anything about that."

"How can you not?"

"I told you, I don't remember!"

Okay, if Carly didn't even remember the damage that had happened… "You sure you weren't in a coma or anything, right?"

"The first thing I remember is being at home, eating lunch," Carly said. "I was perfectly fine. Felt better than I had in ages, even."

Stranger and stranger… Carly stared at the computer screen and the picture still displayed on it. She made no move to do anything.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you just gonna take my word for it? Aren't you gonna look up anything?"

Carly frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"Why would you— Are you even hearing yourself?! You're Carly Nagisa, you stick your nose into everything! If you don't remember, then why aren't you looking it up?" Stephanie got up, gesturing wildly. "You should've looked this up ages ago!"

Carly was still staring at her, uncomprehendingly. Stephanie was getting seriously freaked out.

"Okay, gimme that." She snatched the computer and opened Carly's internet browser, typing 'Neo Domino attacks 2029' in the search bar. The results list was massive. She clicked the first one, an overview of all the attacks that had taken place during that very weird fortnight. Then she pushed the laptop back to Carly. "Here, read."

Carly blinked slowly, as if looking at the screen through a haze. Slowly, she started scrolling through the page. Then faster and faster as she took in what was written there.

"This is—"

She scrolled on, clicked on a video of Satellite in ruins, then went to the next one, the one that showed the weird Arca-something building being destroyed. It stopped her cold.

"I remember this," she whispered.

"I'd hope so, it was everywhere! We were all terrified!"

"No." Carly got up. "I remember this. I was there. I was— Hummingbirds."

That made no sense whatsoever. Stephanie was almost regretting coming here tonight. She could have been binging on bad soap operas without a care in the world.

"I did that…" Carly whispered.

"What?"

"I was… I destroyed that building. Only not me, it was—" Carly stared at her right arm as if expecting to see something there. "Something's stopping me from remembering, I need—" she got up, frenzied once more, and grabbed a notepad and a pen. Then she started writing furiously. Stephanie only caught parts of it: The word Arcadia and attacks, hummingbird circled twice, Jack's name, 'Signers' with 'Dark' added behind it. "Something stopped me from remembering," she muttered, and Stephanie remembered how helpless Carly had looked when she'd suggested just looking up the missing information. How reporter Carly Nagisa, who lived for the truth, had somehow never thought to just look for what she was missing.

This entire time, her alliance-turned-friendship with Carly had been driven by simple curiosity. She'd wanted to know what was wrong with Lucciano and Carly had been her ticket to finding out. But now she couldn't help but wonder: what had she gotten herself into?

 **oOoOo**

Yusei woke up sick. Not even a little sick, like the colds he used to have when he was a kid, but full-blown, never-want-to-leave-bed-again, sick. He had been feeling tired all of last week and his late-night chats with Bruno hadn't helped matters, but he'd hoped it'd pass. Clearly not.

He groaned and rolled over, which proved to be a bad idea when he was immediately hit by a coughing fit. How the hell had he become this sick, this fast? And why did it have to happen now, right before the quarterfinals? They would have to play in two days. He refused to drop out of the WRGP because of a cold.

"Yusei? You okay?" Jack stuck his head past the doorframe. Yusei managed to stop coughing long enough to nod.

"Yeah, just a cold. It'll be gone by tomorrow." He shivered. When had the room become so cold?

Jack frowned. "If you're sure. You look kind of red."

Yusei tried to wave him off, but he was grabbed by another deep, hacking coughing fit. He rasped for breath.

"I'm getting Crow," Jack announced. "You are not okay."

Yusei tried to protest, but Jack had already disappeared. He returned only minutes later, carrying a glass of water and followed by Crow, who took one look at him and sucked in a breath between his teeth.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks a lot." Yusei grudgingly accepted the water. It was getting warmer again, thank goodness. Crow sat down next to him and studied his face. His frown deepened the longer he looked.

"You're getting spots…" Crow leaned back. "Yusei, did you ever get chicken pox?"

"Uh, yeah, we all got it at the same time, remember?" That hadn't been a fun winter. He, Crow and Jack had been one of many victims that year. Martha had been running herself ragged to take care of all the kids who'd caught it. But they'd all gotten through it in one piece, so Yusei had no idea why Crow was bringing that up now.

"Right, right… What about measles?"

Measles? Crow wasn't saying what Yusei thought he was saying, was he? It was just a bad cold, no need to get all worked up about it. He'd just stay in bed with his laptop for the day and he'd be all ready to go by the quarterfinals.

"Yusei?"

"No, I don't think so. But I'm sure it's nothing."

"Not taking any risks." Crow got up. "Jack, call Martha, will ya? She'll know what to do."

"Oh, come on!" Yusei protested. They were clearly exaggerating. Besides, if he had the measles, shouldn't Jack and Crow be infected as well? He knew for a fact that Jack had never caught measles in his life. He said so, but both Jack and Crow shook their heads.

"I already caught it when I was eight," Crow told him.

"Goodwin had me jabbed with every kind of needle possible when I came to the City." Jack grimaced. "I was vaccinated. Pretty sure Rua and Ruka were too."

And of course Aki was in Europe and probably vaccinated too, which left Yusei as the only one vulnerable in their little group. He groaned and rolled over. Of all the stupid, inane ways to get sick. He never got sick. Why now? He shivered as he snuggled deeper under the covers. Okay, maybe he had a tiny little fever on top of the coughing, but did that really mean he had measles?

Martha came rushing in an hour later, along with Dr. Schmidt. Both he and Martha frowned at Yusei, their expressions almost identical.

"Yusei-kun, when did you start feeling sick?" Dr. Schmidt asked.

"Yesterday evening. Really, this isn't necessary."

But Dr. Schmidt didn't think so. He took his time looking him over, listened to his heart and lungs, took his temperature (well past 38) and checked the skin of his face, arms and the inside of his mouth. He exchanged a worried look with Martha.

"I'm afraid Crow-kun was right, Yusei-kun. You have measles. I'm going to prescribe you some meds and you're going to have to stay here for the next two weeks. Crow and Jack can stay, but you have to be careful that you don't see people who aren't immune."

"The quarterfinals are in two days!" Yusei protested. Bad idea—he immediately got another coughing fit.

"And you won't be participating. At this rate, you won't even want to get out of bed by then." Dr. Schmidt said. "I'm sorry, Yusei-kun, but until you're better, I can't allow you to participate. I have already seen you on the brink of death once. I would very much like to avoid a repeat."

Yusei wanted to protest, but Martha silenced him with a glare. "Yusei-kun, if Dr. Schmidt says you have to rest, you're going to rest."

"Martha, you know how important this is!"

Martha's eyes softened. "I know, Yusei, but your health comes first. Satellite will get by. I don't want one of my kids to land themselves in the hospital."

Yusei looked away. He could do little against that. But the tournament…

""We can kick their asses without you," Jack said. "You'll see, we'll be in the finals by the time you're better!"

Crow nodded. "We can always ask Aki to come back," he suggested. Jack didn't seem to agree.

"Come on, we don't need a third rider to take on some third-rate duelists! We'll do fine with just the two of us!"

Yusei agreed. According to Crow, Aki was doing fine in Europe. Calling her back now wouldn't be doing her any favors. It'd only be a few days, and Crow and Jack would be able to handle Team Fortune Ark. Yusei would definitely be better by the semifinals next week. If Chevalier won their own match, and there was no reason why they wouldn't with Bruno on their team, they would be their opponents. Yusei would be better by then. He wouldn't miss it for the world.

"Two weeks, Yusei-kun," said Dr. Schmidt. Yusei stayed silent mutinously. "I'll come check up on you next week, and if you're better after two weeks, you can participate in the finals." He smiled. "I've been following the WRGP. It was a pity about your first match, but you've been doing really well, the three of you."

"Thanks," Crow said. Dr. Schmidt scribbled out a note in predictably illegible handwriting and handed it to him.

"I can't give you much, but I've prescribed you some acetaminophen for the fever and a salve for the rash. You'll be getting a rash soon enough," he said when he saw Yusei's skeptical look. "You're already getting some traces of it. I'll be honest, it's gonna suck for a while, Yusei-kun. But with some luck, you'll be all better for the finals."

He didn't mention the semifinals. No matter. Whether he was better or not, he'd just participate anyway. How bad could it be?

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow it," said a very harried-looking Mikage on the vidscreen an hour later. Crow had picked up Yusei's meds, but they hadn't taken effect yet, so Yusei was alternating his time between shivering and burrowing underneath the covers and throwing them off like they were on fire. They might as well be, from the way he felt. "Yusei-kun, we cannot risk the health of the participants and supporters by letting you participate. Besides, I'm sure it would be better for you to stay at home and get better."

"I'm feeling fine!" Yusei protested. His words were immediately belied by a coughing fit with awful timing, and like everyone else that day, Mikage didn't listen.

"Even if you did, I still can't let you participate in the quarterfinals or the semifinals. I'm sorry, Yusei-kun, but don't worry. I'm sure Atlas-sama and Crow can get you to the finals!"

"Mikage, c'mon—"

"Look, I'm sorry, I don't have time to debate this." Mikage rubbed her temples. "I've got enough on my plate right now, not to mention that stupid team calling me at all hours—" she trailed off. "But that doesn't concern you guys. I'm sorry, Yusei-kun. That's my final say on the matter."

She logged off, muttering, "I'd have known if they'd registered, they can't keep claiming they did." Yusei didn't know what it was about. Frankly, he didn't care either. Didn't she realize how important the tournament was for him? He slammed the phone down. Crow, standing next to him, shrugged.

"Don't say you're not surprised," Yusei snapped before he could say anything. Crow was unfazed.

"Well, I'm not, and you know she's right. We can handle the WRGP perfectly well and you will be better by the time we make it to the finals. So just drink your water and leave it to us."

Yusei let himself fall back onto his pillow. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually been sick. Why did it have to happen now?

"Come on, we're up against Team Fortune Ark. You can help us revise our strategy and look at their previous matches." Crow handed Yusei a full glass of water. "If you're going to lie around in bed all day, you might as well make yourself useful."

* * *

 **Next chapter:** You meet the weirdest people at an airport.


	17. XV - Miracle Workers

Many many thanks to BulletOfEducation, who graciously wrote the duel in this chapter and all duels in future chapters for me! Any mistakes that did sneak in are probably on me!

* * *

 **XV. Miracle Workers**

Jack had beaten the first two members of Team Fortune Ark very easily. The two men ran a beatdown deck much like Jack did, but it had been no use; Scar-Red Nova Dragon had slaughtered them. And sure, Sahla, Team Fortune Ark's one remaining member, had finally done in Jack, but that had been expected. After his double win, Jack had been left with very few life points. Crow had been ready to step in and had fully expected to finish the duel within minutes. They'd promised Yusei they'd win, after all. Yusei was probably watching right now from home. The twins had taken pit crew duty, even though Crow wasn't entirely happy with it. Keeping up with all the regulations and maintenance needed in the WRGP was no job for two twelve-year-olds. Right now, he really missed Aki and Bruno. But it didn't really matter. They had a match to win and five minutes ago, Crow had been sure it would be an easy win.

So why was the only thought running through his head right now: ' _Shit'_?

It was more of a litany, actually: _shitshitshitshitshit_. With an occasional _fuck_ and _goddammit_ thrown in. Because, hey, turned out Team Fortune Ark actually did deserve their place in the quarterfinals. Sahla, the performer woman who Crow had stupidly assumed was just there for eye candy, had turned out to be really really good. Her forest-green hijab had been entwined with her hair, covering it completely while still giving the impression of long-flowing braids underneath her helmet. Combined with the high speeds they were driving at, it gave her the look of a wind spirit. Fitting, given her deck. Every monster so far had been a wind monster, many of them specifically designed to evade all of Crow's attacks and even Black Feather Dragon's special effects. Her Ancient Sacred Wyvern's attack had gone up to 6500 already and even though he'd finally managed to destroy the Spirit of the Gentle Breeze that had been on her field since she'd been dueling Jack, her life points were still at a comfortable 7100. If he didn't break through her defenses very soon, they were fucked and they'd never been able to go on to the semifinals.

Sahla laughed, a tinkling laugh that seemed absolutely designed to get on Crow's nerves. She actually had the nerve to look like she enjoyed this. Did she not know what would happen if Team 5D's didn't make it to the finals?

Crow took a deep breath as they veered back into the stadium. No, that wasn't fair. Team Fortune Ark had fought long and hard to make it to the quarterfinals, just like they had. There was no reason why Sahla shouldn't be enjoying herself. Hell, any other moment and he would have been happy to duel her again. But right now, without Yusei or Aki… He was their last hope and he absolutely had to win this. Team Chevalier had already beaten Team The Arm and made it to the semifinals. If they made it through this round, they'd be facing Sherry and Bruno in the semifinals. How were they going to do that?

A warning flickered to life on his screen: the pit board. It read '15s!' and Crow growled. He drew, right in time before the one-minute drawing limit ran out. Goddammit, he'd gotten so caught up in his own thoughts that he was losing focus of the duel. Even Sahla, who was right next to him, frowned.

"Are you giving up already?" she asked. Crow thought he detected an undercurrent of worry. He glanced at the card he'd just drawn and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm ready to go!" he announced. He waved at Jack and the twins when he passed the pit. "I activate Trap Stun! No other trap cards can be used this turn!" At least that would offer some protection, if only for a little bit. "Next, I tribute my Steam Token to summon Black Feather — Bora the Sharp!"

The monster appeared in a flurry of feathers, but Crow didn't wait for it to appear fully. "I tribute Bora the Sharp to special summon Steam the Invisibility Cloak from the graveyard!"

He'd lost the monster to Sahla earlier on in the duel. It wouldn't happen again, not with Bora now in the graveyard. "I now banish Bora the Sharp from my graveyard to activate its effect and target Steam the Invisibility Cloak." Sahla was pushing buttons on her screen, undoubtedly looking up exactly what Bora's effect was. Crow took pity on her: "This turn, Steam will not be destroyed in combat, the monster it fights will be destroyed and I will not take any battle damage."

Sahla raised her head and gave him a grudging nod, looking vaguely impressed. Crow grinned at her. "Steam the Invisibility Cloak, attack Ancient Sacred Wyvern!"

With Bora's effect in play, the Wyvern that had done in Jack didn't stand a chance. It was destroyed in a matter of seconds. Sahla shook her head, but she didn't look all too worried about losing her ace monster. Still. The field looked a hell of a lot better now.

"Armoured Wing, direct attack!" he announced and watched as Sahla bore the brunt of his monster's attack. She swerved, but righted herself quickly. Her life points went down to 4600 as Crow ended his turn.

"Nice play," Sahla said, drawing a card. She flipped over a card in her hand as she had the last few turns: Golden Ladybug. Her life points increased again by 500.

"I spend 7 speed counters to activate Speed World 2's effect and draw another card!" she announced, doing so even as her D-Wheel fell behind. "Then I activate Lost Star Descent and Special Summon Ancient Sacred Wyvern from the graveyard!"

Crow gulped as the monster reappeared. It remained in defense mode, with its defense now down to zero and its level down to 6, but he was sure Sahla had more tricks up her sleeve.

He was proven right within seconds. "I summon Hanewata!" Sahla said. The tiny fluffball appeared and Crow knew what was coming before Sahla had to say it. "I tune Hanewata with Ancient Sacred Wyvern. Synchro Summon! Be reborn from thy brethren, Ancient Sacred Wyvern!"

The second Ancient Sacred Wyvern appeared in the place of the first. With the difference in life points now smaller, it was not as terrifying as the first one had been, but that wasn't saying much; it still had 4500 attack points.

"Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack Steam the Invisibility Cloak!"

If the attack went through, he'd lose. But Crow had come too far to let that happen. "I discard Black Feather — Kalut the Moon Shadow to give Steam another 1400 attack points!"

It wasn't enough to save Steam. But it was enough to save Crow from losing the duel; his life points went all the way down to 400 but he was still in the game. He could still win this. He _had_ to win this. "I activate Black Revenge to special summon two Black Feather - Black Crest tokens!"

Sahla smiled softly. "Good," she said as she placed one card face down. "I was afraid it'd be over already."

"Not a chance."

"I look forward to your next move," Sahla replied. "I end my turn."

Crow drew. Really, Sahla had had the right idea in the previous turn and he had Speed Counters to spare. "I also use Speed World 2's effect and draw a card," he said, keeping his D-Wheel under control one-handed as it lost speed. He looked at the card. Good. "Then I summon Black Feather — Blizzard the Far North and use its effect to special summon Black Feather — Blast of the Black Lance!"

The two monsters appeared almost simultaneously. Crow overlooked his field for a brief second. Yeah, more than enough choices. "I tune Blizzard to Blast of the Black Lance and one of my Black Crest tokens. Gust fiercely, storm! Gain the will of steel and the speed of light to sublime your form! Synchro Summon! Appear! Black Feather — Silver Wind the Aloof!"

The monster appeared on the field in all his glory. Crow suppressed a smile. Almost there, almost there… "I activate Silver Wind's effect. I can target a monster with a lower defense than Silver Wind's attack and destroy it!"

Sahla visibly winced when her Ancient Sacred Wyvern was destroyed again. Crow took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. "This turn, I can't conduct my combat phase. I set one card face down and end my turn." Sure, he'd done no damage to Sahla's life points, but that Wyvern was gone and he still had all of his remaining life points. Now he just had to keep it that way.

When Sahla drew this time, she didn't say anything, only stared at the card with a frown.

"Not what you wanted?" Crow shouted.

Sahla ignored him. Again, she held up the Golden Ladybug in her hand and again her life points went up by 500. "I activate a Speed Spell," she said right after. "Angel Baton lets me draw two cards if I send one to the graveyard."

She did so. The cards she drew still didn't quite seem satisfactory to her. "I summon Spirit of the Gentle Breeze in attack mode and end my turn," she announced.

A risky move. Crow narrowed his eyes. She had to have something up her sleeve. The magic and trap cards still on her field probably hid some nasty surprise for him if he tried to attack her monster. He drew. He looked at the card. He barely managed to keep his face impassive.

"I tribute Silver Wind the Aloof and my second Black Crest token to summon Black Feather — Abrolhos the Megaquake!" he shouted as they entered the stadium again. In the distance, he could see Jack pumping a fist in the air. Jack knew his deck well enough to know exactly what was coming.

"I activate Abrolhos' effect! It loses 1000 attack points to send every magic and trap card you control back to your hand!"

Sahla gasped, eyes wide as she removed the cards from her duel disk. She looked over Crow's field, taking in the two monsters still there and then her own Spirit of the Gentle Breeze. Crow could almost see her do the math in her head.

"Abrolhos, attack Spirit of the Gentle Breeze!" Crow shouted. Sahla's monster didn't stand a chance. Her life points went down to 4000. Crow grinned. "Then Armoured Wing will attack you directly!"

"It's still not enough," Sahla stated.

"It is! I activate Black Feather Anchor and tribute Abrolhos the Megaquake to give its attack to Armoured Wing!" He watched in satisfaction as the monster's attack went up to 5100. "Attack!"

Sahla didn't scream when the attack hit her. She even kept admirable control of her D-Wheel and managed to keep it going until they once again reached the entrance of the stadium. It didn't prevent her life points from dropping to zero and did nothing to quell the overwhelming feeling of relief that caught up with Crow. That had been way too close. He slowed down to a more comfortable speed and finally came to a stop in front of the pit and a cheering Rua and Ruka. Jack was smiling, and the relief in his eyes mirrored Crow's own.

"And the winner of the second quarterfinal match is Crow Hogan, and with it Team 5D's!" the MC announced. "Despite their missing third wheeler Fudou Yusei and an overwhelming display of misdirection from Sahla, Team 5D's has beaten the odds!"

Cheers went up in the audience. Across from them, Sahla and her teammates shook their heads, defeated. Jack vaulted the pit stands and together with Crow, he walked up to them.

"Good match," he said. Crow nodded his agreement. Sahla shrugged and pushed a stray lock of hair back under her hijab.

"You beat us fair and square. It was an honor to duel you," she replied. Her smile was rather pained, but they'd be fine. Losing this late in the tournament couldn't be fun. Team Fortune Ark had come all the way from Saudi-Arabia. "Although I do wish we had been given the chance to face your third wheeler. Do wish him a speedy recovery."

"Oh, trust us, he really wanted to be here." Crow rolled his eyes. "He's got the measles, though. Very infectious, but we almost had to tie him to his bed just so he wouldn't come."

"Yes, perhaps it is best for him not to be here," Sahla agreed with a smile, as the twins joined them.

"We wish you best of luck in the semifinals," one of the men, the tallest one and Jack's first opponent, said. That brought Crow right back down to earth. Oh god, the semifinals. He exchanged a look with Jack.

"Yeah, we're going to need to prepare for that." They walked down the track together with Team Fortune Ark. "When are you guys going back home?"

Sahla sighed. "It will be a while. We have tickets booked for after the tournament."

"If you're still around," Jack said. "I want a rematch. Perhaps Yusei will even be around this time."

Sahla laughed, not the tinkling laugh she had used during the duel, but something lower and more honest. "Sure. I'm up for that."

About an hour later, after all the ceremony was over and done with, Crow, Jack and the twins were alone in the pit, looking over the match. Yusei had called in with congratulations and several remarks on the duel. That was a little-known fact: Yusei was the worst kind of backseat duelist when he felt like he couldn't be useful. Jack and Crow had just rolled their eyes at each other, put him on speaker and let him talk while they looked up details on the next match. Team Chevalier… How were they going to do that with just the two of them?

"This is going to be a problem," Crow said, looking at the statistics of Team Chevalier's matches. They had hung up on Yusei five minutes ago, after promising they'd be home soon. But right now, Crow wanted to use the time away from Yusei to consider their next move without him sulking at them.

"You can take them!" Rua cheered. Jack shared the sentiment.

"It's just Bruno. How hard can it be?"

"Have you looked at their statistics? Mizoguchi is their third rider and he's never even dueled in the tournament. Sherry has won all of their first round matches on her own, and the longest Bruno's ever taken to finish a match is five turns. That was two opponents, by the way."

"Yeah, well," Jack looked momentarily flummoxed. "We've been dueling with two riders for most of the tournament as well. He may have that Accel Synchro thing, but I have Scar-Red. All those other teams were nothing compared to us."

He did make a good point. Scar-Red was definitely a good weapon against Blade Gunner, and Crow had more than enough pride in his own Black Feather Dragon to trust it to beat Bruno if necessary. But that still left them with Mizoguchi. No one really knew what deck Mizoguchi played during riding duels.

"I'd still feel a lot better if it weren't just the two of us," he admitted. Ruka nodded.

"But Yusei is going to be sick for another week," she said. "So what should we do?"

Crow took a deep breath. He didn't like it very much, and he didn't think anyone else was going to like it much either, but it had to be done. "Aki," he said. "We need Aki back. We need a third rider."

He just hoped they'd be able to convince her to come back. Because after all, why would she drop everything in Norway just to assist a couple of guys here who wanted to win a tournament? It was cruel, calling her back now when she was learning so much. But right now, Crow needed her more than ever.

 **oOoOo**

"Return? But…" Aki paused, glanced around at the room, and directed her attention back to the screen, filled with Crow's face. "I haven't done anything here yet. I can barely see my own spirits and I don't have my powers back at all."

Crow sighed. "I know, and I'm terribly sorry, but we're just completely stuck here. If we can't get to the finals… Chevalier's not going to stop Yliaster, are they?"

He made a very good point. Yliaster wanted to destroy Neo Domino City, and Aki even knew why. But she couldn't tell Crow that.

"There's really no way Yusei will be better?"

"Oh, he wants to be, but he's still crazy infectious and Mikage's banned him from the tournament." Crow drummed his fingers on the table. "He's furious about it, lemme tell you."

Grimacing, Aki leaned back in her chair. Did she want to return? Returning now felt so much like giving up… One the one hand, the guys had been able to handle all the other teams with just two duelists, but on the other, Chevalier would be a far bigger challenge than anything they'd faced before.

"You can always go back after the tournament, right?"

"Mama and papa won't pay for my plane tickets forever, you know," Aki said. "I don't know, Crow. I can't just give you an answer right away."

"I understand," Crow said grudgingly. "Just think about it, okay? We can't take Chevalier on with just the two of us. We don't even know what Mizoguchi's deck is like."

"I'll think about it." Aki logged off after saying her goodbyes and let herself fall back on her bed. Go back to Japan? She didn't particularly feel like participating in the WRGP again. Her first appearance had been nothing short of disastrous, and it had led to the mess she was currently in. Not that she didn't like dueling or D-Wheeling. Heck, the thrill of it was very comparable to her psychic powers… The energy it took, the control she needed to exercise, just the sheer feeling of controlling something so dangerous and exciting… But going back to the tournament? Sherry and Bruno were both Pro Duelists. Aki had more than enough pride in her dueling skills, but how could she win from people who had spent most of their lives on D-Wheels? And in Bruno's case, that life had been very very long.

"What would you do?" she murmured at Blue Rose Dragon. Blue Rose Dragon only chirped sadly and curled up next to her. Maybe one of her other monsters could give her advice? Black Rose Dragon was a Signer Dragon, so perhaps she knew what the Crimson Dragon would want? The Claw birthmark was still burned into her right arm, tying her to the other Signers. She should be there with them if things went wrong. But wasn't she here to prevent things from going wrong?

Aki groaned and buried her face in her pillow. If only Yusei hadn't gotten sick, they wouldn't be in this mess. Would it even be a good idea to go back to Neo Domino? It would put a stop to their plans to retrieve Judai, but right now, she wasn't making any progress anyway. She sat up. She _could_ just ask. Everyone in Japan would be going to bed by now, but maybe tomorrow… She turned her computer back on and drafted a message.

 **oOoOo**

He'd been chatting with Yusei far too much for it to be any good. He knew Paradox would berate him when he ever found out, but he couldn't seem to stop and Yusei didn't seem inclined to stop either. So when he'd woken up that morning and seen a new message in his inbox, he'd expected it to be from Yusei. Only it wasn't. It was Aki.

" _I'm sure you've heard about Yusei. Can we talk?"_

That was far shorter than he'd expected. And since Paradox apparently had his date this afternoon…

He frowned at the computer screen with the unopened message. Aki had ended the mail with her contact info—info he could've just as easily discovered himself. So now he was left with one question: should he contact her? Anything he told her could end up with 5D's, but since Yusei hadn't yet come knocking down the door, he was pretty sure she hadn't told them about their earlier conversations. That was one point in her favor.

He had watched Team 5D's latest match on repeat. Jack and Crow had held themselves amazingly against Team Fortune Ark, as he'd known they would, but it was still clear that the lack of Yusei as their third wheeler had thrown them off. Not to mention Yusei complaining to him about being bed-bound. So yes, he understood why Aki was worried. He just didn't know why she'd be contacting _him_ , of all people.

"Trouble?" Paradox asked. He snapped out of his trance and quickly shook his head. How long had he been sitting here, staring at his screen?

"No, nothing."

"You're not worried about the next match, are you?"

He was, but not quite for the reasons Paradox probably suspected. He had kept his last conversation with Aki a secret. Paradox wouldn't be happy to know that she knew more than she was supposed to. He suppressed a sigh. What was one more secret, anyway?

"Nah, I'm fine. Just doing clean-up here." He gestured vaguely at the screen. "You know, your D-Wheel's almost ready. Want to go get the last parts today and wrap it up?"

"It is?" Paradox's voice radiated with ill-concealed excitement. "Great! Right on time too."

The D-Wheel they'd built for Paradox wasn't quite as heavy as his previous one had been, but it nowhere rivaled the sleekness of his own Delta Eagle. The high speeds that Delta Eagle had been built for were no good for Paradox anyway. The new D-Wheel was once more built for strength, but it was a bit faster than before. Paradox had been wary about that, and he could freely admit that perhaps, he was a bit biased, but after being on the run for so long, he was fully aware of the advantage speed offered. If they couldn't catch you, they couldn't kill you. So if Paradox's D-Wheel could reach higher speeds, he'd be all the better off for it. He might have adapted the engine program he and Yusei had written before just a _tiny_ bit to use in their own D-Wheels. He'd written it himself, after all, so it wasn't theft. And why change a good thing if it worked?

"Got time this afternoon?" he asked. Paradox hesitated briefly.

"I think Sherry wanted to go look for cards."

He couldn't resist grinning. "Cards, really?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. Wouldn't want to interrupt your very important search for cards, that's all. We'll go tomorrow."

Paradox huffed, but clearly had no rebuttal in mind. He left the room with a frankly overdramatic flourish. Served him right for the sleepless nights he'd had to deal with. The walls of an apartment, even one in Tops, weren't exactly thick.

But Aki's e-mail was still burning a hole in his inbox. He opened the page again and finally, after a moment of deliberation, clicked on reply.

"Be online in three hours," he sent back, through a list of dummy accounts and proxies that even Yusei would have trouble decrypting. "I'll contact you."

Then he settled back, and for the next three hours, he waited. He tinkered a bit with Delta Eagle, got Paradox's new D-Wheel as complete as he could get it without the few parts still missing (they were mostly for time travel) and very pointedly did not think about Aporia's plans or the Ark Cradle. Oh, he loved being in the tournament, and Accel Synchro kept giving him that _rush_ of joy, of love for dueling. Sherry had not been able to win their second round matches on her own, and had been defeated after taking out only one opponent in the quarterfinals, but he had been more than able to pick up the slack. Mizoguchi didn't seem to begrudge him winning where Sherry couldn't. In fact, both he and Paradox had gotten rather used to having Mizoguchi around. The man had given them the cold shoulder for a while after he and Sherry had found their Z-ONE cards, but he had warmed up to them again in the last few days. Apparently he'd decided they'd been honest enough with Sherry to warrant his trust. He was a comforting presence, someone who wasn't very likely to lose his cool even when they or Sherry were on the verge of doing so. He could be counted upon to temper Sherry's anger, Paradox's hotheadedness and even his own indecisiveness. Best of all, he didn't really bother them. He was firmly on Sherry's side, of course, but that was to be expected. They stuck up for their own. Hard to begrudge Mizoguchi for something they themselves all did.

Still, it was hard to fight a smile when Sherry and Paradox left together and Mizoguchi followed soon after. Mizoguchi had probably been more of a father for Sherry than her own father had been. And conveniently, Mizoguchi's spy adventures left him with plenty of time to talk to Aki. He opened a chat client ten minutes before the appointed time, spent a few minutes rerouting it through a few proxies halfheartedly, and waited on invisible until Aki's screen name appeared. He wasn't too worried about someone tracking him down. Yusei already knew where he was anyway, so he wouldn't be discovering anything new, and technically, he and Paradox hadn't done anything illegal yet. All the proxies and dummy accounts were just a force of habit by now.

Maybe he was getting sloppy. He'd need to work on that.

Aki signed on. He took a deep breath and opened a new chat window.

 **Speedtech:** Hey

 **RedLikeRoses:** Bruno? Is that you?

 **Speedtech:** yeah, you said you wanted to talk?

Aki spent a few seconds typing before her next reply came.

 **RedLikeRoses:** can we do this face-to-face?

This time, it was him who hesitated. Face to face? He was the only one home, so he wouldn't be bothering anyone, but on the other hand… If Aki started asking questions he didn't want to answer, it'd be a lot easier to do so if he didn't have to look her in the eyes.

 **RedLikeRoses:** you still there?

 **Speedtech:** I'm here. I'll call you.

Time to find out how good his poker face truly was. He found a pair of headphones and plugged them in as the call went through. The screen went staticky for a few seconds when Aki accepted, and the sound seemed far off, but then the image stabilized and he could see Aki, sitting at a desk in a small room and wearing a dark green sweater that looked nothing like her usual outfit. This was Norway then? Not much different from Japan, at first glance. Or perhaps that was just Aki's presence.

Speaking of Aki… "Hey," he said in greeting. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good! I mean, yeah… I see spirits now."

"Glad to hear it!" he said. She did look good. Her eyes had something sharper about them, something he hadn't seen before. She glanced to the right side of the screen, and he got the fleeting impression that she was looking at something next to him. For a moment, they sat in uncomfortable silence, neither truly knowing what to say to each other. At least, he didn't. It had been several weeks since he'd seen Aki.

"So you heard about Yusei, right?" Aki broke the silence. He nodded.

"I know he's sick. How is he doing?"

He hadn't found the courage to go visit Yusei himself. The secrets he was keeping from him were too large, and something about Yusei always made him want to tell everything. He could repress the urge when he was just typing in a chat window, but face-to-face? Aki was safe, a semi-confidante. He'd been able to visit her in the hospital and then later she'd helped him out when he didn't know what was left for him. Yusei was too dangerous right now.

"He's got measles." Aki made a face. It came out kind of blurry. "Apparently he's more annoyed than sick at this point. That's what Crow says."

He already knew all of that. "You haven't talked to Yusei?"

"A few times, but usually the hours didn't match up. Crow's up late these days."

So was Yusei. But, he realized with a pang of guilt, if Yusei had been chatting with him, he probably wouldn't have had time to chat with Aki. "So Yusei's definitely not dueling?" he hastened to change the subject. Aki nodded. It was kind of a pity; he had been looking forward to dueling Yusei again.

"They asked you to come back for the tournament, didn't they?" he asked Aki. She grimaced.

"Yeah, and I'm not sure what to do. I haven't gotten my powers back or summoned Rainbow Dragon or anything. I'm just… stuck."

He didn't know whether that was good or bad for them. Less competition for Paradox, but it meant no Yuki Judai just yet. "Aki, I don't want to be rude, but why are you asking me? We're on opposing teams. I should be happy if you don't come back, that's one less opponent for us to beat."

To his surprise, Aki laughed at that. "You're a duelist, right? You don't back down from an extra opponent."

He smiled and nodded. She had a very good point. Norway was doing wonders for her confidence. "I would like to duel you, that is true."

"Don't get so cocky, who says you make it past Jack and Crow?" Aki teased.

"You think they can make it past me and Sherry?" He folded his arms, only half in jest. If Aki thought this was going to be an easy win, she had another think coming. He had been enjoying this tournament very much and he had no intention of losing to Team 5D's. If nothing else, a duel between them and Team New World would be far easier and less life-threatening. If Team 5D's went up against Aporia, things might start exploding. Maybe he wasn't entirely happy with Aporia at the moment, but he still wanted all of them to get through this alive.

"So you think I should come back?" Aki asked, her voice suddenly small. He sighed. True, without Aki a win would be far easier. It also wouldn't feel right.

"It's really up to you, but I wouldn't mind. Yusei won't be back at all?"

"Mikage-san banned him from participating. She doesn't want him within a mile of the participants or the spectators. No telling who else didn't get the vaccine and we don't need an outbreak. At least, that's what Crow says."

"Are you going to be fine, going back to Japan?"

"Oh yeah, I've had all the shots. I'm fine." Aki was smiling again. "Yusei really got the short end of the stick. Crow already got it when he was a kid, but Martha apparently took very good care of her kids, so neither Yusei nor Jack did. But then Jack came to the City and he got the measles shot along with everything else."

"Sucks to be him." He himself had been inoculated since birth, as had Paradox. It wasn't an issue for Aporia at all. They were immune to almost any kind of disease presently in existence, a couple that had been eradicated already, and a few that didn't have a vaccine yet at the moment. If he wanted to go visit Yusei, he could do so without fear of infection. But he couldn't.

Aki must've seen him think, for she said: "Have you seen Yusei after I left?"

"No," he said. Technically he hadn't seen Yusei in person anymore. He didn't know why he wasn't telling Aki that he was talking to Yusei once more. But he was already lying to everyone else. What was one more lie?

Aki looked resigned. "Crow said the reason he got sick was stress. He would've been fine otherwise, but he's been so stressed lately, with the tournament and…"

"Me." Aki had said something about that before. He did feel guilty about it, but despite the daily conversations he was having with Yusei again, he hadn't forgiven him. Given what they were planning, he wasn't sure if Yusei was going to forgive him in turn. He was enjoying it while it lasted.

"He misses you." Aki grimaced. "More than he misses me, apparently."

"That's not true!" On more than one count. Yusei liked his friends. He wouldn't forget about Aki when she was on the other side of the world.

"No?" Aki leaned back and folded her arms. "I've spoken to him twice since I arrived here. I'm talking to Crow almost every night but he's never around. Don't tell me he can't pass by."

He tried not to wince at that. That one was on him, but he didn't want to tell Aki that.

"… I'm sorry."

Aki sighed deeply. "I guess it just gets on my nerves."

That was a pretty big change. Aki's crush on Yusei had been visible from miles away. But the candid way she was talking about him now… Yeah, it had definitely tempered. He wasn't sure how he ought to feel about that. Especially since his own feelings for Yusei… Despite everything, they hadn't exactly changed.

He hurried to change the topic."You can see spirits now? What's that like?"

He was sure Aki was just humoring him, but she went along with it, to his great relief. "It's great! I saw Blue Rose Dragon first, and I can see all the monsters in my deck now. Sometimes I even see other people's spirit partners! Johan's house is so full of spirits, there's one wherever you look."

Johan Andersen had been known for his strong bond with spirits. That, not his proximity to Yuki Judai, was what had made him a target to Paradox in the first place. He wondered if this Johan, who was over twenty years older, still bore a grudge against them for it. If the stories had been correct, he probably did. He'd lost Erika himself. Losing siblings, losing family, was one of the most painful things that could ever happen to a person. At least Johan Andersen had gotten his sibling back. If only Erika could be here… The Erika he'd known, not the tiny baby who lived somewhere in Tokyo now, along with his much younger, seven-year-old self. What an innocent child he had been. He hadn't even known how to duel yet. And now he was here in a tournament that could decide the fate of the world.

"So the WRGP? Have you made up your mind yet?"

Aki didn't look back at him. She slumped in her chair and played with the sleeve of her pyjama top. "I believe I should. But Bruno, be honest, what's going to happen after the WRGP?"

Now it was his turn to look away. "… Nothing good. We have a plan of sorts and I hope, _I hope_ that we can get out of this without any loss of life."

"How likely is that?"

"… Not very," he had to admit. "Look, again, Yusei can't know, or Jack or Crow. It'd break them."

"I understand." Aki faltered. "… I'm sorry, I can't summon Rainbow Dragon yet. I can't bring Judai-san back."

"That's okay, we'll figure something out." It was a setback, for sure. But they didn't need Judai. If Yusei could unite Satellite and the City again, it might just be enough. Team 5D's was a powerful symbol, a collaboration between Satellite and City. Having Aki back, as a duelist no less, would send a good message.

"Would it really help if I came back?" Aki asked.

"I think so, yes."

"Right." She took a deep breath. "Right. I'm going to need some more time. Talk to Johan." She looked up at the screen again. "I haven't decided yet, but I suppose I'm running out of time."

Five more days until the next round of the tournament. The semifinals. The big ones. The tournament was now down to four teams, three of which were all involved with this mess to some degree. Only Team Taiyou, a group of newcomers who'd somehow forced their way through the tournament and had taken many of their opponents by surprise, knew nothing of what was going on. He hoped it stayed that way. At least one team had to be free of all this mess.

"Good luck then, Aki."

"Thanks. I'll… Maybe I'll see you next week, Bruno. Take care."

It was an abrupt end to the conversation, but what else did they have left to say to each other? He glanced at the clock. Barely half an hour had passed, and Paradox and Sherry would still be away for a bit, which meant Mizoguchi would still be following them and he had the apartment to himself for another hour or two at least. He got up and stretched. More maintenance on Delta Eagle, maybe? But his D-Wheel was as good as it was going to get. Deck building? Same problem.

What he really wanted, he realized with a start, was to visit Yusei, maybe talk about stupid things. Talking to Aki had made him realize again just how much he wanted to see him. But he couldn't.

Sacrifices had to be made, Paradox would say. And he was right, of course. If only…

If only those little things would stop hurting so much.

 **oOoOo**

The departure lounge was packed. The airport magazine wasn't very compelling — a description of a city trip, an interview with the manager of some company or other, and a whole lot of fashion advice. Aki sighed and turned the page, only to be faced with a picture of a majestic mountain that looked exactly the same as the five majestic mountains that had preceded it.

"Izayoi Aki?"

Aki looked up from her magazine. Huh. She didn't always manage to see other monsters, but this duel monster was clear as day. Her outfit — very, very pink — stood in sharp contrast with the soberly-dressed business people waiting for their connecting flight to Neo Domino City. Aki took another look at the spirit and frowned.

"I know you," she said, taking in the dark pink dress and long, pink, twin tails. "You're Bruno's monster, aren't you?"

"Tech Genus Wonder Magician, Synchro Tuner," the spirit said with no small amount of pride. "Wonder Magician's fine."

"Bruno's here?"

Wonder Magician shook her head. "He's in Neo Domino City. I overheard you saying you'd be here. I wanted to talk to you."

Aki put the magazine in her travel bag, not bothering to bookmark the page. Majestic mountain number six wouldn't be going anywhere. "Does he know you're here?"

Another head shake, this one far sadder than the previous one. "'No-chan knows we exist, but unless someone summons us, he doesn't know where we are."

Aki remembered her surprise at first seeing Blue Rose Dragon, remembered how Johan had told her that some people never managed to see spirits, even if they had a partner of sorts.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I've known him since he was ten. He never saw me." Wonder Magician shrugged. "It's fine."

Aki wanted to ask more, but Wonder Magician's eyes told her to drop it. She glanced at the overhead clock. Fifteen minutes until boarding.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Making sure you're still in this. They need all the help they can get and 'No-chan isn't going to ask."

"He already did," Aki pointed out. That was the entire reason she'd gone to Norway in the first place, even if it hadn't accomplished anything in the end. Wonder Magician snorted.

"You don't know the half of it. It is essential that your friends don't find out what's going on. It's the only way to save the city. So you'd better not be getting any cold feet."

Aki sat up straighter. "They're my best friends." she said, just for the sake of argument. Sure, Wonder Magician was a powerful monster, but in this form, she was just a spirit. She couldn't do anything to Aki.

"I couldn't care less about your personal relationships. I'm asking you for the world's sake."

"And for _'No-chan's_ sake," Aki muttered.

"Obviously. Your Blue Rose Dragon would do the same thing. That's how being partners works."

She and the Gem Beasts would get along great. Wonder Magician sighed. Aki looked back at her, and Blue Rose Dragon made herself comfortable in Aki's lap. "There's a couple of things you need to know about 'No-chan. First off, he's not a good person. He's not an idealist and he won't stop even if it hurts people."

What a weird thing to say about your own partner. "But?" Aki guessed.

Wonder Magician sighed. "He really wants to be. That's the problem with them. With us. We can't afford to be any of those things." She petted Blue Rose Dragon. "Bruno was a very sweet kid when I met him, and he still wants to be that kid. He tries to be nice to the people he meets, because that's the only luxury he can still allow himself."

"His name really is Bruno?"

Wonder Magician nodded. "He had a sister, Erika. She was seven years younger than him."

Aki didn't need to ask what had happened to her. She glanced at the clock again. Five minutes until boarding. "You're asking me to help you out, no questions asked, and to not tell my friends anything. What's in it for me?"

"Besides not dying?"

Aki nodded. Wonder Magician, incredibly, smiled. "Don't worry, I do have something to help you with. Just give it a few minutes." She glanced outside. Boarding for first class passengers was being announced and Aki got up, gently removing Blue Rose Dragon from her lap.

"Mind if I tag along? Flying on my own is boring."

"Be my guest."

They didn't talk again until Aki had boarded the plan and found her seat. Blue Rose Dragon curled up on her lap again and promptly fell asleep. Wonder Magician claimed the seat next to her and smoothed out her dress.

"Someone might come sit there," Aki said.

"Then I'll move." Wonder Magician stretched her arms above her head and Aki ducked instinctively.

"I can't touch you," the monster pointed out mildly. Aki gave her a half-hearted glare. Who wouldn't duck when someone was waving their arms around?

No one came to sit next to her, and by the time the plane took off, Wonder Magician had made herself comfortable and was taking in the plane with great interest.

"It's been years since I've been in one of those. They really haven't changed at all," she said.

"When was the last time?"

"Dunno, about sixty or seventy years ago. In a couple of years."

Aki swallowed. Of course. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing." Wonder Magician said with an irritated look. "You can't help it, and we're still fine. Mostly." She sighed. "As long as 'No-chan is fine, we are too."

The engines started. "Is he?"

"He's alive."

Wonder Magician didn't elaborate. She followed the plane's progress as it made its way over to the runway.

"Why do you call him that anyway? He's not exactly small," Aki asked.

"Habit. Like I said, he was only ten when he got my card." Wonder Magician gained a pensive look on her face. "But also now… He doesn't know what his name is."

"How can he not know what his name is?"

"Either he's Bruno, or he's Antinomy. He can't be both and he can't decide. Hence 'No-chan."

"You said he was born as Bruno."

"Correct." If Wonder Magician was offended by Aki's accusation, she didn't show it. "Names change."

"What about Timothy Kant?"

Wonder Magician made an impatient noise. "A fake name that he made after being bored for too long. It has little to no value. His name is either Bruno or Antinomy, and the name he chooses will decide who he is and what he'll do."

'Why don't you ask him?" Aki asked. Wonder Magician raised an eyebrow and Aki realized her mistake. "Right, sorry."

"You ask him. I'd really like to know the answer myself."

The plane was taking off, and Wonder Magician didn't look like she was going to say anything more or reveal what she was going to offer Aki. Aki petted Blue Rose Dragon. The monster chirped sleepily and covered her face with a wing. They'd be in Neo Domino soon. It promised to be very interesting.

 **OOoOo**

Rose Herald had never been in the human world until today. In fact, she had never even existed until today, unless you counted her time as a vague, nebulous consciousness within the folds of the Crimson Dragon. Rose Herald did not. She had been created for one very specific purpose: Find the Signer with the Claw mark.

There were two of them, but only one could be the right one. Rose Herald was connected to the Crimson Dragon and all its servants, but her loyalty lay with Black Rose Dragon, her namesake. Therefore, the Signer of Black Rose Dragon was the one she needed to find.

And find her she did, 15 kilometers up in the air on a flight in one of the weird contraptions humans apparently created to deal with their lack of wings. _She will see you_ , the Crimson Dragon had told her. _You will herald a new world._

But her Signer was not alone on that flight. There was another with her, a spirit so very like Rose Herald in nature, yet so different in mind. This one had no allegiance to the Crimson Dragon and never would. That spirit spotted her first, the moment Rose Herald appeared on the inside of the contraption. She looked at her, distrustful, until she too seemed to realize their shared nature. Then she smiled, slow and delighted.

"I was wondering when one of you'd show up," she said, twirling a strand of pink hair around her finger. "Excellent timing. Hey Aki, here's the thing I was gonna help you with."

The Signer of the Claw birthmark blinked slowly and turned her head. Rose Herald kept very still. This was the woman she was supposed to serve.

"Hello," she said, blinking sleep out of her eyes. She glanced around at the other passengers of the flight, none of whom seemed to worry about a human talking out loud. Was that normal among humans? Rose Herald had never talked to anyone before. Only the Crimson Dragon had talked to her, and then only to tell her what she needed to know. But this human, this 'Aki', felt comforting. In her bag, Rose Herald sensed the familiar essence of Black Rose Dragon. They had never met and yet they were created from the same cloth.

"I'm Izayoi Aki," the Signer of Black Rose Dragon said. "Can I help you?"

Rose Herald bowed. "I am Rose Herald, Izayoi-sama." Something told her that was the polite thing to say. "I have been sent to serve you."

"Sent?" Izayoi-sama tilted her head. "Ah, call me Aki, please!"

"Very well, Aki-sama." Rose Herald straightened from her bow and put her hat back properly. "You shall find me in your deck whenever you need me."

That was enough introduction for one day, right? Rose Herald made to disappear, but the like-natured monster gestured at her. "Hey you, stick around for a bit. Who sent you?"

"The Crimson Dragon did. It sent me to serve the Signer of Black Rose Dragon."

Aki-sama stilled, halfway through her bag with her hands on her deck. "The Crimson Dragon did?"

"Of course it did," said the like-natured monster with a disgusted groan. "Well, it can only be helpful. Welcome to the club, there's two of us now," she told Rose Herald. "My name's Tech Genus Wonder Magician."

"Two?" Aki-sama repeated. Rose Herald tilted her head. Was it really true? Were she and this Tech Genus Wonder Magician the only ones of their kind in existence?

"Just look at the card, Aki," said Tech Genus Wonder Magician. Rose Herald felt the tremor when Aki-sama finally picked up her card.

"Synchro…" she read. "Synchro Tuner? Wonder Magician, what does that mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tech Genus Wonder Magician leaned back in the seat next to Aki-sama. "Accel Synchro, Aki. You think you can pull that off?"

"But I'm—"

'Clearly a better candidate than your Yusei-kun." Tech Genus Wonder Magician shared a long-suffering look with Rose Herald. At least, she tried. Rose Herald only felt confusion. Was there a problem with the Signer of Stardust Dragon?

"Does Bruno know about this?" Aki-sama demanded. Tech Genus Wonder Magician shook her head and smiled.

"He doesn't know I'm here and he doesn't know about Rose Herald here. You'll be able to surprise him. It'll be fun!"

"But I can't use Accel Synchro!"

Rose Herald tilted her head. Why should Aki-sama not be able to use her card to its fullest potential? "The Crimson Dragon sent me to guide you," she said again. It was her mission. "So I shall."

"See? Even the lizard thinks you can do it," said Tech Genus Wonder Magician. Rose Herald did not know whether she liked this sister of hers. She knew she liked Aki-sama, who spoke of the Crimson Dragon with the respect it was due. "And don't forget, you've got a first-hand reference right here!"

"That's what you wanted to do? Teach me Accel Synchro?" Aki-sama asked Tech Genus Wonder Magician. Tech Genus Wonder Magician shrugged.

"Not much to teach, it has to come from your heart. But I'm here to answer any questions you might have, as long as you make it quick. We're almost in Neo Domino. I have to get back to 'No-chan, before he wonders where I am."

"Does he?" Aki-sama asked. Tech Genus Wonder Magician's face fell.

"Sometimes. Every once in a blue moon when Paradox can't summon me right away. But he doesn't summon me often, so probably not."

Her sister's master couldn't see her? Rose Herald thought she felt sad about that. She was here to serve Aki-sama, whether Aki-sama could see her or not, but still… Was that common, masters who didn't see their servants? Why had Tech Genus Wonder Magician been assigned to a master who was no Signer anyway? She voiced the thought. Aki-sama flinched and Tech Genus Wonder Magician glared.

"'No-chan's no Signer and thank goodness for that. You can keep your stupid overgrown lizard, it's never done anything for us."

But that made no sense. Why was Tech Genus Wonder Magician lying? "The Crimson Dragon gave you your powers, didn't it?"

Tech Genus Wonder Magician bristled. "That thing has never had any hand in my creation and it will stay out of my life and 'No-chan's."

"The Crimson Dragon created Clear Mind, did it not?" Rose Herald had no idea why Tech Genus Wonder Magician was so angry. "Has it not helped you?"

"You… You honestly think that lizard _created_ Clear Mind?" Tech Genus Wonder Magician shook her head in disgust. "Wow, Aki, I'm sorry. I'd hoped the Crimson Dragon would've known better than to send some brainwashed puppet."

"Wonder Magician!" Aki-sama snapped. "She is still my monster. She can't help it if she doesn't know every little detail of your life. It's not like you've been very forthcoming anyway."

"Oh, right, take her side." But for some reason, Tech Genus Wonder Magician smiled. "If you've got any questions, better ask them now. I won't be helping you during the tournament, but I'm expecting to see you use Accel Synchro, Aki."

"But I can't—"

"Sure you can. Just keep a clear mind, that's all." She nodded at Rose Herald. "And you, if you can be as loyal to her as you can be to your lizard, maybe there's some hope for you yet. You'd better be helping her out, you hear?"

Tech Genus Wonder Magician really was a weird one. Why would she not help Aki-sama? "It is my mission to serve her," Rose Herald said.

Aki-sama sighed. "I hope you'll be my friend, Rose Herald. I don't need servants."

Friends? Rose Herald nodded. "It is my mission to be your friend, then."

Aki-sama sighed again, and Tech Genus Wonder Magician laughed. "Baby steps, Aki. Give her time."

And with that, she settled down and fell quiet, leaving Rose Herald with her new master-friend. Aki-sama studied her card thoughtfully. "So that's how it works," she muttered. "I'm supposed to tune you with… Black Rose Dragon?" She looked at Rose Herald for confirmation.

"It will produce the best results if you do, Aki-sama."

"Right." Aki-sama let out a long breath through her nose. "I can't believe the Crimson Dragon is asking me to do this. Bruno was trying to teach Yusei."

Rose Herald knew something about that, vaguely, in the back of her mind. "The Crimson Dragon believes you to be the better candidate," she said. At one point, the Crimson Dragon had considered the Signer of Stardust Dragon. Rose Herald did not know why that had changed, but she was here now, and she was proud to be Aki-sama's friend.

END OF ACT THREE

* * *

 **Next chapter:** Intermission time! A bed-ridden Yusei does some soul-searching.


	18. Intermission III: Alternate History

**Intermission III: Alternate History**

Aki arrived at four in the afternoon, very tired but happy to be back home again. At least, that's what Crow texted him from the airport, something that was soon after confirmed by Aki's own text. Yusei still wasn't allowed outside the house. By now, he didn't even feel particularly sick anymore, although the rash that doctor Ayame had predicted had well and truly hit, and he still needed the acetaminophen she'd prescribed. He should be in bed, of course, but if it depended on Crow and Jack, they would've tied him to his bed and not let him see anything but the walls of his room for two weeks. Both Jack and Crow were out now, gone to greet Aki at the airport before her parents whisked her off. That left Yusei with the house to himself for once. He was planning on making good use of it. Sick or not, he was not going to spend all day in bed.

Yusei-Go was still in the same state he'd left it over a week ago. Blackbird and Wheel of Fortune were a bit worse off, after Jack and Crow's run-in with Team Fortune Ark, so Yusei spent a very cathartic half hour tinkering on them. They'd thank him when the semifinals came.

The semifinals. Yusei took a deep breath. Of course Team Chevalier had made it through very easily. He had been looking forward to this match, if only for the chance to duel Bruno face-to-face again. That was assuming he didn't lose to Jack or Crow, of course, but he had seen Team Chevalier battle. While Jack would probably be able to defeat Sherry, any match between any of the three of them and Bruno would be a close one. And then there was Mizoguchi… Did he also play a ninja deck during riding duels? Or did he play something completely different? He'd only dueled Mizoguchi once, that one time he and Bruno had followed Sherry in Security… That had been a strange day. Who had been that person they'd met?

Every time he paused from his work it came back to haunt him. That… man? He'd known Yusei. He had seemed so very familiar, as if Yusei should know him from somewhere, but he would have remembered that, right? Bruno and Sherry… Sherry hadn't been involved at the time, but her Z-ONE card had set off the entire thing. Z-one obviously had to be related to the card, and Sherry had been looking for Yliaster, who'd killed her parents for it. Which meant that Z-one too was related to Yliaster. And Yliaster was related to Bruno and Paradox, so that meant…

Ugh. Yusei groaned. This was becoming far too complicated for his liking. Sherry's Z-ONE card had led them to that strange realm. That card was connected with Yliaster, which in turn connected it to Bruno. In other words, both Bruno and Sherry had had reason to be in that world. Then why had Yusei been there? He had to think this through logically. Mizoguchi had been right behind him, but he had not been brought there. So that meant that only people who had reason to be connected to Z-one were brought to his realm. And that meant… That meant Yusei himself was connected to him. But how?

Z-one had been familiar, somehow. He'd recognized something about him, but he couldn't place it. Who was Z-one to him? He'd only been able to see his eyes. Yusei shifted and found a soft cloth to clean Blackbird with. He rubbed the black coating until it shone, then critically studied the surface. His own eyes stared back at him. Perfect. And—

He paused and looked back at the metal. His own eyes and their familiar blue, yes, but also…

Also Z-one's.

Z-one's eyes, the one glimpse he'd caught of them, had been that exact same shade of blue. His blue. His eyes.

Z-one had the same eyes Yusei himself had.

Yusei very slowly got up, meticulously put away the screwdrivers and spanners he'd used, and deposited the cloth with the others that needed cleaning. Then he made sure his working place was spotless and no sign remained of him ever working here. Only then, after he'd done all that, did he head upstairs to the bathroom. And looked in the mirror.

Without the distortion caused by the curve of the D-Wheels, his eyes were a lot clearer now. Unfortunately, it helped nothing to assuage his doubts. Yes, that blue, the blue he'd always seen whenever he looked in a mirror, was also Z-one's. And the shape of his eyes, though mirrored, had also been the same. But what did that mean? If it connected him to Z-one, then how? Why would Z-one have his eyes?

He knew absolutely nothing about Z-one, except that he had to be related to Bruno somehow. Bruno had been looking for him when he'd lost his memory. He'd dueled Yusei once, so many months ago, and tried to show him Accel Synchro. So… Yusei slumped over the bathroom sink. He could think this through. This was just like a duel. He just needed to find out how all the pieces connected. One step at a time.

Sherry and Bruno were connected to Z-one. So was Yliaster, and presumably, so was Paradox. Yusei himself… Was too, but Mizoguchi wasn't. Bruno then, had specifically looked for Yusei to teach him Accel Synchro, before he'd lost his memory. If he was connected to Z-one, Z-one must have known about that. But why him? Just because he was a Signer? In that case, it could have been anyone. Jack and Crow had both had their D-Wheels with them at the gala, but it wasn't them Bruno had looked for. Yusei smiled briefly. It was kind of flattering.

Z-one had his eyes. Of course, it was way too early to come to any conclusions. He was missing so many pieces it wasn't even funny. He had some vague impression of a picture somewhere, of where every piece he possessed should be placed, more or less, but all the connecting bits were missing. Was Z-one related to him? Yes, probably. But how was Z-one related to him?

What had happened to him in the future? The thought came, unbidden. Bruno and Paradox had talked about everyone dying, but they had never talked about Yusei or the rest of Team 5D's one way or the other. Was that because they didn't know what had happened to them? Or was it because they did know? Their future couldn't be centuries off. Supposedly, Team 5D's should have still been alive when it happened. Had he died as well? Perhaps. Yusei took more than enough pride in his dueling abilities, but holding off so many Machine Emperors when he'd barely managed to defeat Wisel? That was daunting and more than a bit scary.

Why did Yliaster even have the Machine Emperors if they had supposedly destroyed their world? Ugh, far too many questions to deal with right now. But if he couldn't duel, he could at least think about what was happening. He had been chatting with Bruno almost every day since they'd regained contact again and Bruno had never mentioned the supposed revelation he'd had before. It hadn't meant anything.

… Hadn't it?

Yusei groaned and pushed away from the bathroom sink. He wanted to trust Bruno more than anything, really he did. But Bruno had kept secrets from him before, without any qualms. Could he really trust Bruno to tell him if he'd found out something? He'd wanted to be in the semifinals if only for that. Dueling was a pretty good way to find answers, Yusei had always found. Maybe if he had been able to duel, he could've talked to Bruno face-to-face and found out more. But now Aki would be taking his place in the tournament, and it wasn't that he didn't trust Aki, but Bruno was a tough opponent. If Jack or Crow couldn't beat him, would she be able to?

She had to be. Once they made it to the finals, they'd be facing Team New World. He didn't think anyone had any illusions about that. From what he'd seen of Team Taiyou, they were nice people and talented duelists, who'd made it to the semifinals through a combination of luck, skill, willpower and opponents who underestimated them. They didn't stand a chance against Team New World. He suspected that even if Team New World was on the verge of losing, they'd still find a way to make it so that they would win anyway. In other words, the finale would come down to Team New World versus either them or Team Chevalier. It wouldn't be an easy task, but Yusei _wanted_ to be in that finale. And somehow, even though he didn't know how yet, he wanted to _win,_ time travel antics be damned. After that…

After that, Yliaster still had to be planning something. The tournament couldn't be their goal. Why would they travel back into the past just to try to win a tournament? That made no sense. Something was very likely to happen after the finals. Something that would involve them all, and Yusei had the sneaking suspicion he wasn't going to like it. Yusei glanced at the clock. Almost six. Aki's plane had landed almost two hours ago, which meant that now, she had to be almost out of the airport. Depending on how Jack and Crow got home —They'd taken the subway in order to avoid the, in Crow's words, fucked-up parking rates at the airport— he didn't have much more time left to himself. Really, he was getting kind of hungry. That was a good sign, according to doctor Ayame. It meant he was getting better. Apparently not better in time for the semifinals.

Three more days. That would mean a day for Aki to recover from her jetlag, a day for her, Jack and Crow to find their rhythm as a team and then probably one more day where they all got nervous and snapped at each other. The semifinals would take place in the afternoon, after four, so Rua and Ruka could be present after they were let out of school, along with a great many of their classmates. Yusei would have to stay home. Mikage still hadn't allowed him to enter the stadium and she refused to let him until doctor Ayame had confirmed that he was not infectious and wasn't likely to bring Neo Domino to its knees with an ill-timed measles epidemic. At least, after the semifinals, regardless of whether they made it through or not, Yusei would finally be able to go outside again. And then they'd have to wait… Wait for Yliaster to make their move. Dramatic timing meant it would absolutely happen during the finals. Yusei really hated drama sometimes.

So what was left for him? Watch the semifinals from his bed, probably, just like he had watched the quarterfinals. He could comment on the duel, knowing full well that they couldn't hear him anyway, and get frustrated when things didn't go the way he wanted them to. Nothing went the way he wanted it to, lately. After the semifinals, when he'd finally be allowed to get out of bed… Well, if they got past Team Chevalier, he'd be training. If they didn't… There was Yliaster to figure out, and the mystery of Z-one. Who was Z-one anyway and why did they have the same eyes? What connected them? What was Yliaster planning and what were Bruno and Paradox planning? And most importantly, how did Team 5D's fit into all that? Yusei had a feeling he'd find out sooner than he wanted to, and that he wasn't going to like any of it.

* * *

 **Next chapter:** Pop quiz! What do you call the process of changing to a powder from loss of water of crystallization?


	19. XVI - Knights and Dragons

_This chapter. This chapter. I promise this is the only chapter that will consist entirely of duels._

 _My utmost gratitude to BulletOfEducation who sat down with me and helped me fine-tune this duel until literally minutes before posting it! You made it so much better!_

* * *

 **XVI. Knights and Dragons**

 _"And they're off! First up we have Team Chevalier's Sherry Leblanc, a duelist who has never lost to her first opponent in this entire tournament! And trying to change that is Jack Atlas from Team 5D's! Team 5D's got a bit of an unlucky start and has seen three of its four Riders out of commission in this tournament, but after last week's close win against Team Fortune Ark, it has been confirmed that Team 5D's backbencher, Izayoi Aki, will once again participate in the tournament to replace Third Wheeler Fudou Yusei!"_

Crow drummed his fingers on the table in the pit as Jack and Sherry took off. Aki, next to him, looked paler than usual, but her eyes glittered with excitement. Rua looked pumped, whereas Ruka kept glancing over at the pit of Team Chevalier. Crow had looked up and caught Bruno's eyes a few times. He didn't look all that worried, but Crow was determined to give him a run for his money. They had caught a very brief glimpse of Paradox, but he hadn't stayed in the pit.

"First corner," Aki muttered. Jack and Sherry were neck-to-neck, their D-Wheels matching each other in speed…

" _And Sherry Leblanc makes it past the first corner before Jack Atlas, giving the first turn to Team Chevalier!"_

Crow let out a deep sigh. That wasn't good news for them. Sherry's D-Wheel had to have been upgraded much like their own had been. He cast a suspicious look in Bruno's direction, but it didn't matter. Sherry had the first turn, and they'd just have to deal with that.

"C'mon, Jack," Crow whispered. Sherry drew.

"I summon Holy Knight Jeanne," she called out. "And I set two cards facedown."

 **Sherry Leblanc: 4000 / Jack Atlas: 4000**

With that, Sherry ended her turn. Crow frowned. A slow start, but Sherry was not to be underestimated. Jack knew that just as well. On the other side of the track, Bruno and Mizoguchi were intently watching the screens. Aki leaned back in her seat and fidgeted with the cuff of her new riding suit. It was red, much like the old one had been, but extra care had been taken in the covering and padding so that she wouldn't be faced with a repeat of last time. All in all, the ensemble rather resembled Crow's own.

"My turn!" Jack announced. He glanced quickly at his hand of cards. "Since you have a monster on the field and I don't, I can summon Big Piece Golem without tribute!"

The massive monster appeared on Jack's side of the field. Crow smiled. It wouldn't be nearly enough to take out Sherry, but at least it could draw first blood.

"Big Piece Golem, attack Holy Knight Jeanne!"

Sherry didn't flinch when Holy Knight Jeanne was destroyed. "I send one card from my hand to the graveyard to add Holy Knight Jeanne back to my hand," she announced. "And when a warrior-type monster on my side of the field is destroyed, I can special summon Chevalier de Vengeance — Jeanne la Lionesse!"

The monster that appeared didn't look much like a knight. If anything, she looked most like a pirate. She leveled Big Piece Golem with an impressive glare, even though Jack's monster was far more powerful than her.

"I set one card and end my turn!" Jack said, slapping the card onto his disk. By now, both duelists had made it about halfway through the track. Aki leaned forward to stare at the screen with Crow. "It could go either way, huh?" she whispered. Crow grimaced and nodded. "It's still early. Jack will manage."

 **Sherry Leblanc: 3800 / Jack Atlas: 4000**

Both of them glanced back at the pit on the other side of the stadium. Bruno and Mizoguchi were also focused on the duel and didn't notice them look. "D'you think we can beat them?" Aki whispered.

"I know we can," Crow said, letting his trademark grin slip into place. Sure, Bruno was tough and they still had no idea how Mizoguchi dueled, but they had powerful weapons on their side. He doubted that Jack would be able to take on all three himself, but he could probably at least do some damage to Bruno. Between him and Aki, they could handle the rest just fine.

Sherry drew. "I activate Powerful Rebirth to special summon Fleur Synchron from my graveyard!" she shouted. The flower bulb appeared on the field next to Jeanne la Lionesse. "And next I tune Fleur Synchron and Jeanne la Lionesse. Body born from speed, the time for revolution has come! Bring victory into my hands! Synchro Summon! Shine, Chevalier de Fleur!"

Sherry's signature monster appeared on the field, raising its sword high. On the screen, they could see Sherry smile. "When Fleur Synchron is used in a Synchro summon, I can summon Chevalier de Moral — Jeanne la Hachette from my hand," she continued. The monster that appeared looked like a teenage girl, her long brown hair in two braids down her back. She was holding a small axe in her hand, one that looked more suited for chopping wood than for using in battle.

"Once per turn, Jeanne la Hachette allows me to summon a monster with Jeanne in its name from the graveyard. I summon Chevalier de Vengeance — Jeanne la Lionesse. Return to my side!"

"Don't think so!" Jack hit a button on his duel disk. "I activate Breakthrough Skill and target Jeanne la Hachette, negating her effect!"

"Chevalier de Fleur lets me negate the effect of your trap and destroy it!" Sherry returned. Breakthrough Skill shattered. Crow winced, but it wasn't as big a loss as it could have been. Next to Jeanne la Hachette, the older Jeanne la Lionesse appeared. She briefly clasped hands with the other monster. Sherry nodded once, decisively.

"I tune Jeanne la Hachette and Jeanne la Lionesse," she announced. "Fiery knight, rise up and lead the charge! Synchro Summon! Appear, Chevalier Féroce —Jeanne la Flamme!"

On the field appeared another knight, this one wielding a glaive and staring down Big Piece Golem with unfaltering determination. Sherry took another card from her hand. "Next I summon Holy Knight Jeanne and activate the effect of Jeanne la Flamme. Once per turn, I can increase the attack points of all my warrior monsters with 500." She narrowed her eyes at Jack. "Jeanne la Flamme, attack Big Piece Golem!"

Big Piece Golem disappeared. Sherry straightened up in her D-Wheel. "Chevalier de Fleur, direct attack!"

Crow heard the twins gasp as Jack's life points plummeted all the way to 500. If the attack of Holy Knight Jeanne got through, Jack would lose, but Crow wasn't worried. If he knew Jack at all…

"I special summon Messenger of Hades — Gorz from my hand!" Jack shouted. Crow grinned. With no cards on the field, the card could be summoned and the monster had more than enough attack points to withstand Holy Knight Jeanne's attack.

"And since I took damage in combat, I can summon a Messenger of Hades — Kaien token. It will gain attack equal to the life points I just lost."

"Nice," Aki said. Crow nodded and grinned. More than nice. Kaien had 3200 attack points. Even Sherry's boosted monsters wouldn't get past it.

Sherry must have realized as much too. She shrugged. "I guess it couldn't be that easy, huh?" she said with a faint smile, setting one card face-down. "I end my turn."

 **Sherry Leblanc: 3800 / Jack Atlas: 500**

Rua and Ruka looked a lot more worried than Crow felt. "What if Jack loses?" Ruka said anxiously, staring at the life point counter, where Jack's 500 blinked in bright red.

"Jack'll be fine," Aki said with a smile. "He's come back from way worse than this, hasn't he? And even if he loses, Crow and I will be able to handle it."

"Aki's right! Besides, it's Jack's turn," Crow said. On the screen, Jack drew. Both duelists were almost back in the stadium now. On the other side, Bruno had gotten up and was staring at the entrance of the stadium.

"I banish Breakthrough Skill from the graveyard to negate Chevalier de Fleur's effect for this turn," Jack began, "and then I activate Angel Baton!" He drew two cards and showed the card he was discarding. "When I discard Absolute King Back Jack, I can check the bottom three cards of my deck and rearrange them on top!"

Sherry remained impassive. She gestured for Jack to continue, which he did with gusto. "I activate Half Seize and target Chevalier de Fleur. I halve its attack and gain the same amount in life points!"

Chevalier de Fleur's attack plummeted to 1600; Jack's life points went back up to 2100. Rua pumped his fist in the air.

"Then I summon Attack Gainer and I tune Messenger of Hades — Gorz and Attack Gainer! The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Daemon's Dragon!"

Now they were talking! Cheers went through the stadium when, as if on cue, both duelist entered the stadium again, Jack's signature monster flying high above him and towering over the smaller monsters on Sherry's side. "Through Attack Gainer's effect, Jeanne la Flamme loses 1000 attack points!" Jack continued. For the first time, something like worry appeared on Sherry's face. On the other side of the field, Mizoguchi had gotten up as well, just in time to see both of them leave the stadium again. "Red Daemon's Dragon, attack Chevalier de Fleur!"

Chevalier de Fleur didn't stand a chance. Sherry swerved to lessen the impact of the attack as her life points took their first serious blow.

"Messenger of Hades—Kaien, attack Jeanne la Flamme!"

"I activate Floral Shield, negating your attack and letting me draw one card!" Sherry shouted. The shield protected Jeanne la Flamme from Kaien's attack and fizzled out right afterwards. Sherry drew.

"I set one card," Jack finished. Sherry hit another button on her duel disk.

"I activate Afterglow of a Miracle to summon Chevalier de Fleur back from my graveyard," she announced. The monster reappeared in a storm of petals. Jack ended his turn and Jeanne la Flamme's attack returned to normal. Crow was on the edge of his seat. Jack was in a far better position now than he had been a turn ago, but Sherry was no slouch either.

 **Sherry Leblanc: 2400 / Jack Atlas: 2100**

Sherry drew and set a card. "I activate Jeanne la Flamme's effect again and raise the attack of all my warrior monsters by 500," she announced. "And then I activate Half Seize to halve Kaien's attack and gain life points equal to that amount!"

Like Jack's before, Sherry's life points shot up again, all the way back to 4000. Crow grimaced. But Jack wasn't taking it sitting down.

"I discard Effect Veiler to negate Chevalier de Fleur's effect this turn!" he shouted. Sherry only nodded and pointed at Jeanne la Flamme.

"Jeanne la Flamme, attack Messenger of Hades — Kaien!"

"I use Daemon's Chain on Chevalier de Fleur!" Jack shouted as Jeanne la Flamme attacked. "As long as Daemon's Chain is on the field, Chevalier de Fleur can't attack or activate its effect!"

The chains wrapped around Chevalier de Fleur, who was brought to his knees. Sherry's face pulled into a frown as Jeanne la Flamme attacked and destroyed Kaien. Another serious blow to Jack's life points, but Sherry had no monsters to attack Red Daemon's Dragon with and she ended her turn soon afterwards.

 **Sherry Leblanc: 4000 / Jack Atlas: 800**

Jack drew. He looked at the card. He smiled.

"I summon Chain Resonator and I activate its effect to special summon Flare Resonator from my deck!" he shouted, voice booming over the speakers in the stadium. Crow and Aki exchanged a grin. Oh, finally Jack was getting to show off his new ace.

"Double tuning! I tune Chain Resonator, Flare Resonator and Red Daemon's Dragon! The King and the Devil, here and now shall become as one. Savage soul! Lift up the very cries of Creation itself! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Scar-Red Nova Dragon!"

The massive creature appeared on the field, buffeting Sherry and all of her monsters with furious gales. Sherry looked almost nervous. On the other side of the stadium, Crow could see Bruno stare intently at the screen. Hah, deal with that, Team Chevalier.

"Scar-Red Nova Dragon gains 500 attack points for every tuner in my graveyard," Jack continued as Scar-Red's attack shot up to 5500. "And Flare Resonator gives it another 300 attack points. Now, Scar-Red Nova Dragon, attack Jeanne la Flamme!"

The massive dragon bore down on the knight, who raised her glaive. To no avail; she was engulfed in flames within seconds. Sherry visibly gritted her teeth as the attack took out most of her life points. But when she straightened up, Crow was surprised to see the calm on her face.

"I activate Liberty Release!" she shouted. "And I send Chevalier de Fleur and Scar-Red Nova Dragon back to their decks!"

Rua gasped. Crow swore as Scar-Red Nova Dragon disappeared from the field as soon as it had come. Jack stared at the spot where the monster had been, then back at Sherry, who was now actually grinning.

"You had a nice run," she said. Jack growled, but had no choice but to end his turn.

 **Sherry Leblanc: 1100 / Jack Atlas: 800**

"My turn!" Sherry drew and set a card. "This ends now! Holy Knight Jeanne, direct attack!"

"I agree," Jack shouted as Holy Knight Jeanne flew at him. Crow got up from his seat. If Jack didn't stop this—

"I banish Absolute King Back Jack to check the top card of my deck! If it's a Normal Trap Card, I get to set and use it this turn!" Jack drew the top card. He smiled and turned it around. Sherry paled.

"I set Magic Cylinder and activate it! Holy Knight Jeanne's attack is negated and the damage is sent right back to you!"

The blast hit Sherry straight on. She swerved to avoid the borders of the duel lane, her face still a picture of shock. She came to a halt as Jack continued on, into the stadium. On the other side of the field, Crow saw Bruno leave.

 **Sherry Leblanc: 0 / Jack Atlas: 800**

" _And that decides the first match-up of the semi-finals, with Team 5D's taking on a hard-fought lead! Will Team Chevalier's Timothy Kant be able to turn the tide?"_

Rua cheered and Crow smiled. Now they were getting somewhere. Even if Jack wasn't able to defeat Bruno, he could probably at least do some damage to him. Sure, he had no cards on the field, but knowing Jack, he'd find something. Crow leaned forward towards the screen as Sherry entered the pit bay and Bruno caught up with Jack. This would be interesting to watch.

"Let's go," Bruno told Jack. Jack only nodded, face a picture of grim determination, but Crow had known him long enough to see the excitement in his eyes even on the screen. Bruno drew. He stared at the card and for a moment his face pulled into a frown. Then he sighed.

"Seriously?"

Crow and Aki exchanged a look. Bad hand? But it wasn't like Bruno—or any duelist— to be so obvious about that.

"I set three cards and then I summon Tech Genus Cyber Magician!" Bruno called out. "And I tune Holy Knight Jeanne and Tech Genus Cyber Magician! Limiter Removal, Level Five! Regulator Open! Thruster Warm up, OK! Up Link All Clear! Go! Synchro Summon! Come on! Tech Genus Hyper Librarian!"

Jack could handle a Synchro summon, right? But then the camera focused on Jack, who looked flummoxed and very, very annoyed. Oh no.

"Hyper Librarian, attack Jack directly!"

Hyper Librarian didn't even really move to launch his attack. It hit Jack straight on, erasing what was left of his life points. Jack drove straight through it even as his D-Wheel faltered.

 **Timothy Kant: 4000 / Jack Atlas: 0**

Uncharacteristically, Bruno didn't continue on, but paused when Jack did. They were exchanging words the camera didn't catch.

"What're they saying?" Aki muttered. Both were gesturing, looking incredibly annoyed. After a few seconds, Bruno nodded decisively and drove on.

"Must've switched to a private channel," Crow said, already halfway to the pit bay. He got there within minutes, revving up Blackbird and waiting for Jack to come back in and pass on the baton. Jack arrived only half a minute later. He definitely looked pissed off.

"What'd you talk about?" Crow asked.

"Wanted a rematch," Jack muttered. He had no cards to transfer; Crow started the engine on Blackbird. "That sucked."

Crow could only nod in sympathy. Jack had been wanting to duel Bruno ever since they'd found out Bruno used to be a Pro Duelist. Having it go like this would have been a blow to any duelist. "Good job against Sherry."

"Yeah. Good luck. Kick his ass."

Jack left the pit bay. Crow drove out. Bruno was halfway down the track somewhere and it took him a minute or two to catch up. When he did, Bruno nodded at him, looking just as annoyed as Jack had.

"Hey Crow," he muttered.

"Hope you're not writing me off as an opponent just because you couldn't duel Jack," Crow said. That seemed to cheer Bruno up.

"I'll settle," he said with a grin. "Ready?"

"My turn, draw!" Crow looked at the cards in his hand. Not great, but good enough. "I summon Black Feather - Zephyros the Elite and then I special summon Black Feather - Gale the Hurricane through its own effect!" he began. The monsters appeared on his side of the field, facing down Bruno's more powerful Hyper Librarian.

"Then I activate Gale the Hurricane's effect to halve Hyper Librarian's attack!" Crow continued. All at once, Hyper Librarian slumped, its attack now less than both of Crow's monsters. He could Synchro summon now, but the damage would probably be greater if he didn't. "Zephyros, attack Hyper Librarian!"

Bruno's hand had already hit his duel disk before Zephyros could even fly up. "Trap: Synchro Reflect! With it, I negate your attack and destroy Gale the Hurricane!"

Crow grimaced. With it, he'd lost both Gale's effect to halve his opponent's monsters' attack and he'd lost a tuner. At least Hyper Librarian's attack would still remain halved. He set two cards and ended his turn soon after. Time to see what Bruno could really do.

 **Timothy Kant: 4000 / Crow Hogan: 4000**

"Draw!" Bruno announced. Before he could do anything else, Crow took his chance.

"I activate my trap: Delta Crow — Anti Reverse to destroy all of your set cards!" he called out. Bruno shook his head.

"Counter trap: The Huge Revolution is Over! With it, I negate the activation of your trap and banish it!"

Ugh, that wasn't one of Bruno's cards. He'd forgotten all about the cards Sherry had left Bruno with.

"I summon Tech Genus — Catapult Dragon and use its effect to special summon Tech Genus — Jet Falcon. And since I special summoned a monster, I special summon Tech Genus — Werewolf in defense mode," Bruno continued as his field filled up with monsters. Now he looked like he was actually enjoying the duel. Crow, despite the field f monsters now facing down his lone Zephyros, felt the same. He wanted to see what Bruno could do just as much as Jack had.

"I tune Catapult Dragon and Jet Falcon! Limit release, Level 5! Booster launch, OK! In-creation, OK! Ground support, all clear! Go! Synchro Summon! Come on! Tech Genus Wonder Magician!"

Bruno's pink monster, the one that was essential to all of his Accel Synchro summons, appeared on the field. She appeared to be glaring Crow down. Bruno smiled up at her. Crow clenched the handles of his D-Wheel more tightly. The real fight began now.

"When Jet Falcon is used in a Synchro Summon, you take 500 damage," Bruno said. Crow could deal with that. Bruno continued: "When a Synchro monster is summoned, Hyper Librarian lets me draw a card." He drew. Crow braced himself. "Wonder Magician, attack Zephyros the Elite!"

Not much he could do to prevent that now. Crow took the attack without flinching.

"Hyper Librarian, direct attack!"

That was what he'd been waiting for. "When I'm attacked directly, I can summon Black Feather — Ghibli the Searing Wind from my hand!"

The monster appeared in defense mode; Hyper Librarian's attack fizzled out. Bruno shook his head with a grin. "Good play," he said. "I set a card and end my turn."

 **Timothy Kant: 4000 / Crow Hogan: 3200**

Crow nodded, grinning as well. Wonder Magician was still an ever-present danger on Bruno's field; he'd need to get rid of her to prevent Bruno's Accel Synchro monster from appearing. And Bruno's deck was very fast. Luckily, so was Crow's. He knew exactly how rushing an opponent worked.

"My turn, draw!" Crow went over the cards in his hand and selected one: "I activate a Speed Spell: Angel Baton." He drew two cards and discarded his Black Feather—Hillen the Tengu Wind after a brief moment of hesitation. It would hopefully come in use later on. He selected another card and moved on: "I summon Black Feather — Blizzard the Far North, which allows me to special summon Black Feather — Gale the Hurricane from the graveyard!"

Both monsters appeared on his field. Crow smiled. "I activate Gale's effect to halve Wonder Magician's attack!"

Wonder Magician glowered but could do nothing as her attack lowered. Crow continued. "Next, I Special Summon Black Feather — Harmattan the Sandstorm through its own effect!"

The monster appeared. He had all the pieces now.

"Harmattan's effect lets it increase its level by that of another Black Feather monster on my field. I choose Blizzard the Far North!"

Harmattan gained another three levels. Bruno looked from the monsters at Crow. He smiled.

"So, you gonna…?"

"You got it! I tune Harmattan the Sandstorm and Blizzard the Far North! Darkened whirlwind, reveal hidden wishes on your wings! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black Feather Dragon!"

His Signer Dragon appeared in all its menacing glory, towering over all the other monsters on the field. Wonder Magician tried to stare it down, but it had little effect on the monster.

"Hyper Librarian lets me draw a card," Bruno said. Crow nodded.

"I activate Zephyros the Elite's effect and return Daemon's Chain to my hand to Special Summon it! Since I would normally take damage through its effect, I put a Wedge Counter on Black Feather Dragon!"

Black Feather Dragon's attack went down to 2100. Still more than enough.

"Then I tune Zephyros the Elite and Gale the Hurricane! Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! Synchro Summon! Appear, Armoured Wing!

Bruno drew another card when Crow's second Synchro monster appeared on the field. Didn't matter. Time to do some damage.

"I remove the Wedge counter from Black Feather Dragon to reduce Hyper Librarian's attack by 700 points." Hyper Librarian's attack sank even lower. Crow pointed at Bruno. "And you take the same amount of damage!"

Bruno finally suffered a first hit to his life points. Now he just had to keep going. "Armoured Wing, attack Hyper Librarian!"

"I activate my trap, Magic-Arm Shield!" Bruno shouted. Of course. "I redirect Armoured Wing's attack to Black Feather Dragon!"

Armoured Wing's attack hit Black Feather Dragon; the dragon retaliated with its own attack. Crow let out a sigh of relief. Armoured Wing's effect prevented it from being destroyed and the damage he'd take from the attack was transformed into another Wedge Counter for Black Feather Dragon. This could've been a disaster. Magic-Arm Shield's effect sizzled out and Black Feather Dragon took its rightful place by Crow's side again. He shared a look with the monster, its eyes glowing a frightening red. He'd had more than enough of Bruno's monsters.

"I spend 10 speed counters to activate Speed World 2's effect and destroy Hyper Librarian!"

Crow fell back as his speed counters went down. Further and further… Or was Bruno speeding up?

"Really, Crow?" Bruno sounded almost disappointed. His sigh was loud over the mic. "I activate Wonder Magician's effect! I tune my Hyper Librarian to Wonder Magician! Limiter Removal, Level Ten! Main Bus Booster Control! All Clear! Infinite Power, Here Release itself and Beyond the Dimension! Go!"

And Bruno disappeared. Crow swore. He'd hoped to prevent just that, but no such luck. He looked behind him. It was coming…

"Accel Synchro! Come on! Tech Genus Blade Gunner!"

Crow was almost flattened against the glass. Bruno reappeared, his Accel Synchro Monster in tow. Nothing to do about it now. "I set a card and end my turn," he grumbled. Bruno smiled.

 **Timothy Kant: 3300 / Crow Hogan: 3200**

"My turn." He drew, then held up a card. "I activate High Speed Crash to destroy my Tech Genus Werewolf and your set card, and I chain TG1-EM1 to switch controls between Tech Genus Werewolf and Armoured Wing!"

Tech Genus Werewolf switched places with Armoured Wing and was destroyed immediately by High Speed Crash's effect, along with Crow's set Daemon's Chain. Crow froze. This was bad, very bad.

"When Tech Genus Werewolf is destroyed, I get to add another Tech Genus Monster to my hand," Bruno said. He studied the field. "Now, time to do away with this. I spend 10 speed counters to activate Speed World 2's effect and destroy your other facedown card!"

Crow managed a weak grin. "You've destroyed my Black Feather Mine! And when it's destroyed, you take 1000 points of damage!" At least that card had paid off. Bruno grumbled a bit, but shook off the damage. Crow eyed Armoured Wing. He was out of options here. If Bruno was going to do what Crow would have done in his place—

"I activate Armoured Wing's effect to remove the wedge counter from Black Feather Dragon and reduce its attack to zero!" Bruno shouted. Crow sighed. Yep, there it was.

"I set two cards and then Armoured Wing attacks Ghibli the Searing Wind!"

Crow struggled hard to keep control of his D-Wheel when Ghibli was destroyed. And the worst was yet to come. All he could do now was give Aki the setup she needed.

"Good run, Crow," Bruno said softly. "Blade Gunner, attack Black Feather Dragon!"

With no attack points, Black Feather Dragon didn't stand a chance. Crow struggled not to scream as Blade Gunner's effect destroyed his dragon and washed over him, wiping away all the life points he had left. He had to keep it together.

"I activate Hillen the Tengu Wind's effect from my grave! Since I took more than 2000 points of damage, I get to summon it and Black Feather — Harmattan the Sandstorm!"

The monsters appeared. Crow's D-Wheel gave out on him as Bruno disappeared in the distance.

 **Timothy Kant: 2300 / Crow Hogan: 0**

Well, that was that. Now all he could hope for was that Aki would be able to finish the duel in their favor. Crow got his D-Wheel back under control right before he entered the stadium. Goddammit, he'd been so close and Bruno had still beaten him to the punch. That Blade Gunner was a menace. But Aki had a good set-up with Hillen and Harmattan… She could do it. She could.

"Crow! You okay?" Aki shouted when he came in view. She was already revving up her own D-Wheel. He hurried to rip the tag off his own uniform and put it on her arm.

"I'm fine. The turn is yours." He glanced worriedly at the screens, where Bruno was making progress. On the other side, Team Chevalier was smiling. Crow gestured at his monsters as he transferred the cards to Aki's duel disk. "They should set you up."

"Thanks." Aki took a deep breath. Then she took out her hair roll and pushed it into Crow's hands. "Here, keep that for me, will you?"

"Aki, don't you need that?"

"Not now." Aki brushed her hair behind her ears before putting on her helmet. Without the hair roll, her hair came past her shoulders, giving her a fierce look only enhanced by the determination in her eyes. She looked incredible.

"Alright, good luck. Be careful!" Crow closed his hands around the roll. Aki smiled and hit the gas. She could take them. Just Bruno and just Mizoguchi. They'd make it. They had to.

 **oOoOo**

Aki took a deep breath as she left the stadium and was immediately buffeted by the winds of the city. One thing to be said for her new riding suit: it was a whole lot warmer than her previous one had been. Bruno was way ahead of her. She hit the gas and caught up with him right before they entered the stadium again—That had taken far too long for her liking.

Bruno smiled and waved when she reached him. "Good to see you here," he said over the comms. "Ready?"

"You bet." Aki shot past him and drew. In her deck, she could feel her monsters' presence like she'd never felt them before. Bruno had his Accel Synchro monster on the field, and Aki thought she actually felt Wonder Magician's presence inside of it, but perhaps that was just her imagination.

Aki closed her eyes. Crow's monsters were still on the field. The sooner she could end this duel, the better. "I tune Hillen the Sudden Gust with Harmattan the Sandstorm! Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

"Nice try, Aki," Bruno said. He pressed a button. "I activate Gravity Collapse and tribute Armoured Wing to negate your summon!"

Black Rose Dragon, not even fully materialized yet, shattered. Aki winced. Breathe in, just breathe in… She could do this.

"You won't be able to summon for the rest of your turn," Bruno continued with a faint smile. Aki tried not to let anything show. Fine. She could still do this.

"I set two cards and end my turn."

 **Timothy Kant: 2300 / Izayoi Aki: 4000**

Aki took another couple of deep breaths as Bruno drew a card. This wasn't the start she'd hoped for. Rose Herald was still waiting for her in her extra deck, but she hadn't even been able to summon Black Rose Dragon…

"Blade Gunner, attack Aki directly!"

Aki startled out of her reverie and swerved. "I activate Holy Life Barrier by discarding one card! I take no damage this turn!"

Blade Gunner still fired at her. Aki gritted her teeth and continued driving. It couldn't do anything to her. She was safe. Bruno nodded, seemingly deep in thought and ended his turn.

 **Timothy Kant: 2300 / Izayoi Aki: 4000**

Aki drew. "I summon Night Rose Knight!" she started off. "And with its effect, I summon Hedge Guard!"

Both monsters appeared on her field. Bruno narrowed his eyes.

"Gonna try again?"

"Mmm. I tune Night Rose Knight with Hedge Guard! Splendid hunter and dweller of the sacred forest, with your whip of punishment in hand, come forth now! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Splendid Rose!"

Her monster took its place next to the tiny Glow-Up Bulb. Aki smiled. She was far from finished.

"I activate Splendid Rose's effect. By banishing one plant monster in the graveyard, I can halve the attack of one monster on the field. I banish Hedge Guard and target Blade Gunner!"

She had expected Bruno to activate one of the traps on his field, react in some way, but he didn't. Blade Gunner's attack halved to 1650. She could take it.

"Splendid Rose, attack Blade Gunner!"

"Trap: Battle Stun Sonic!" Bruno shouted. Aki winced. Of course. "I can negate Splendid Rose's attack and summon one tuner monster from my hand. I summon Tech Genus Jet Falcon in defense mode!"

Splendid Rose's attack fizzled out as Jet Falcon appeared on the field in a flurry of feathers. Aki paused. Her battle phase wasn't over yet. If she'd had another Plant monster in her graveyard, she could have changed Jet Falcon to attack mode, but Hedge Guard had been the only one there. She needed to get rid of Blade Gunner no matter what. Even if Bruno would just banish it…

"I activate Wicked Reborn to summon Black Rose Dragon!"

Her Signer Dragon appeared in a gust of wind and petals that briefly threw Bruno off-balance. Aki's life points dipped by 800, but she barely felt it. She'd finally brought Black Rose Dragon back! Aki looked up at her, then back at Blade Gunner. She could use Black Rose Dragon's effect and destroy everything on the field… But no, Bruno would just remove Blade Gunner from play. She had to destroy it somehow. Bruno had… 2300 life points left. He wouldn't survive a direct attack from Black Rose Dragon. But Blade Gunner was still in attack mode, so using Black Rose Dragon's second effect on it would be pointless…

"Black Rose Dragon, attack Blade Gunner!"

Bruno grimaced, but to Aki's great surprise, he did not remove Blade Gunner from play. Blade Gunner went up in flames as Black Rose Dragon's attack engulfed it, and Bruno swerved, his life points going down to 1550. Strange. Why hadn't he removed Blade Gunner from play? If the attack had gone to the defense mode Jet Falcon, he wouldn't have taken damage.

"Blade Gunner's effect activates! I draw one card and summon the monsters used to Synchro Summon it to my field!"

Hyper Librarian appeared, along with Wonder Magician, who twirled in the air and winked at Aki. "Nice going there, Aki," she shouted over the roar of their D-Wheel engines. Aki acknowledged her with a nod.

"Next, I activate another trap: TGX3-DX2. I get to shuffle three Tech Genus monsters from my graveyard back into my deck and draw two cards." As Bruno did so, Aki couldn't help but notice that one of the cards didn't go to his deck, but to his extra deck. She gulped. That was very bad news.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn," she said. Okay, she'd survived and she had Black Rose Dragon with her. Now she just had to keep going. Even if Blade Gunner returned, there was a chance, on her next turn…

 **Timothy Kant: 1550 / Izayoi Aki: 3200**

"My turn!" Bruno drew and smiled. "I summon Tech Genus Catapult Dragon from my hand! Now Aki, you know what's coming, right?"

Wonder Magician shrugged, almost apologetic. Aki grabbed the handles of her D-Wheel tight. She had nothing to stop a special summon right now…

"I tune Tech Genus Jet Falcon with Tech Genus Catapult Dragon! Synchro Flight Control! Limiter Removal, Level Five, Booster Injection 120%. Recovery Network Range Updated! All Clear! Go! Synchro Summon! Come on! Tech Genus Power Gladiator!"

… That was why he had allowed Black Rose Dragon to destroy Blade Gunner instead of Jet Falcon. Not good. Not good at all.

"Since a Synchro Monster has been summoned, I get to draw because of Hyper Librarian's effect, and since I used Jet Falcon as Synchro material, you take 500 points of damage."

The effect damage hit her, his first blow to her life points. Aki took another deep breath. If she didn't stay calm now…

"You see, Aki?" Bruno shouted. He sped up. "I tune Tech Genus Wonder Magician to Tech Genus Hyper Librarian. Limiter Removal, Level Ten! Main Bus Booster Control! All Clear! Infinite Power, Here Release itself and Beyond the Dimension! Go!"

He drove past Aki, speeding up, and up and up until he disappeared in a flash of purple that she now saw up close for the very first time. Aki took a steadying breath. It was here again. Any second now…

"Accel Synchro! Come on! Tech Genus Blade Gunner!"

Good thing the roads in Neo Domino were so wide, because the shockwave almost flung her against the glass of the duel lane. Aki rallied and hit the gas, catching up with Bruno, who'd passed her again. Blade Gunner was back. She couldn't use Splendid Rose's effect again and if she didn't come up with something soon, she'd—

"Tech Genus Power Gladiator, attack Splendid Rose!"

Aki breathed through her nose. One monster gone. Her life points lowered by a mere 100, but it felt like a terrible blow. Her dragon… At least she still had Black Rose Dragon. But how was she supposed to win? How could she beat Blade Gunner and win this match when it just kept coming back over and over again? The attack still left her with 2600 life points, but it wouldn't be enough. It wouldn't be—

"Tech Genus Blade Gunner, take out Black Rose Dragon!"

No. Not her dragon. "I discard Hedge Guard! By halving Black Rose Dragon's attack points, she can't be destroyed in battle!"

Aki didn't scream. She didn't scream, but the attack was so strong and it hurt so much— her life points plummeted and for a second, her vision greyed out. But when she could focus again, Black Rose Dragon was still there. Still with her. She'd survived.

Barely.

 **Timothy Kant: 1550 / Izayoi Aki: 500**

"I end my turn." Bruno pulled up next to her. "Aki? Your turn," he prompted.

"Right." They were back at the stadium. On the pit board, a message appeared.

GO AKI GO!

At least Team 5D's were still rooting for her. Aki shook her head. If Bruno decided to activate Speed World 2 on his next turn… But no, she had to keep going. She had to win. All she had to do was trust her deck… It wouldn't let her down, not here, not after everything they'd been through.

She drew.

She stared.

It _could_ work, but could she really do this? Was she really ready for this?

Someone chirped. Blue Rose Dragon. "I know," Aki whispered back. She looked around, but Wonder Magician was nowhere to be seen now that she was part of Blade Gunner again. Aki took a deep, steadying breath. She had to try.

"I send one card to my graveyard to summon Glow-Up Bulb from the grave," she began. The tiny plant bulb she'd discarded earlier reappeared, dwarfed by all the massive monsters surrounding it. "and I summon Dark Verdure!"

Bruno gave her a quizzical look. "Another Synchro Summon, Aki? You should know—"

Aki ignored him and took a deep breath. Dark Verdure wasn't strong enough to stand up to either of Bruno's monsters, but that was okay. "Synchro Summon!"

If this didn't work… If Bruno had a counter or if she couldn't pull it off…

 _Aki-sama, please._

"Right. I tune Glow-Up Bulb with Dark Verdure! Messenger of the gods, blossom forth and herald a new beginning! Come forth! Rose Herald!"

For the first time, she got to see Rose Herald appear in a duel. The monster was splendid, and it was hers. She sighed deeply and leaned back into the seat of her D-Wheel. Bruno was staring at the screen of his own D-Wheel, undoubtedly trying to look up the stats on Rose Herald.

"New monster?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, Aki, but it's not going to help you." Bruno actually looked like he regretted it. Aki narrowed her eyes, too annoyed to feel nervous. Was he writing her off already? Like hell was she going to let that happen. She had everyone she needed. Now she just had to pull this off.

"They're only going to last you one more turn, Aki," Bruno said. "You've had a good run, but Blade Gunner—"

"Wow, I can't believe I forgot he used to do that," a new voice said. Wonder Magician. Aki snorted involuntarily.

"Teach him some manners."

Wonder Magician floated back towards Bruno. "You do it. Have fun!"

"Aki, Black Rose Dragon isn't even in defense mode—"

"Bruno? Shut up, please."

And she hit the gas. Her D-Wheel had been upgraded weeks ago. It had the same engine modifications the rest of the guys had, and it could go just as fast as Bruno's Delta Eagle could. It had to.

"I tune…" she whispered. "I tune Rose Herald and Black Rose…"

But what if she couldn't do it? What if she failed? Maybe she wasn't made to do this…

A flash. And suddenly she wasn't on her D-Wheel anymore, but high in the air, away from the stadium and Neo Domino City. The wind buffeted her here, sucking all the moisture out of the air. Without her hair roll, her hair got blown in her face. Brushing it aside proved futile.

 _Why are you afraid of us, Aki? Why do you fear our power?_

Black Rose Dragon. The form of her signature dragon appeared in front of her.

"I'm not afraid of you!" she shouted. "You're my monster! I could never be afraid of you!"

 _But you are._ Black Rose Dragon sounded so sad. _You fear your own power and therefore you fear us. You dare not use us outside these games._

Games? Duel Monsters was a game? Riding Duels gave her the same thrill summoning her monsters had once given her, and since she couldn't do that anymore, weren't the duels the next best thing?

 _But did you choose the duels because you could no longer summon us, or can you no longer summon us because you chose the duels?_

… What? "I didn't choose to lose my powers!"

 _Yet you choose to remain that way._

The chill of the wind increased. Aki was being pulled down to earth again, and she was so, so confused. Remain that way? But she wanted her powers back, more than anything!

Unbidden, a memory came to her. Her parents afraid of her, her classmates shunning her, Arcadia and Divine. Watching Yusei duel Sherry, watching him duel Bruno, and the joy all of them found in Riding Duels. Mastering her D-Wheel for the first time, and the thrill that came with it. The pride in her friends' eyes. Izayoi Aki had learned something good, something acceptable.

Izayoi Aki had found a replacement for her psychic powers. She had found something that wouldn't make people afraid of her.

 _You see?_ Black Rose Dragon's voice came from so far away now. Aki was losing control. But Black Rose Dragon was her monster. She had always been with Aki, always helped her in whatever way she could, and if that had gone wrong every once in a while, did that mean Black Rose Dragon was to blame? Did that mean Aki was to blame? She had control now. She could control this.

"I'm not afraid!" she shouted back. And for the first time in years, she meant it. The wind chill stopped abruptly. Black Rose Dragon's form reappeared, but there was something bigger behind her now, something more imposing.

 _Will you fight with us?_

"I will." Aki closed her eyes. "I'm not scared to fight."

And a block that had been there for weeks, months, years even, splintered and broke. The power that had been locked away so abruptly erupted inside of her, flowing through her hands, her body, her mind. It was here. It was back. The form behind Black Rose Dragon crystalized in her mind, and when she opened her eyes, it was clear as day right in front of her.

 _Then we will fight by your side,_ it said.

Aki gasped. She was back on her D-Wheel, back in the weird nowhere that was speed. And it was so clear now. She knew what to do. She knew _exactly_ what to say.

"I tune Black Rose Dragon with Rose Herald! In black fire, a new promise is forged! Quench the flames of rage and clear the smoke of doubt! Accel Synchro! Appear, Efflorescent Rose Dragon!"

It was here! She was back on the duel lane, Efflorescent Rose Dragon right behind her, and it was magnificent! It had Black Rose Dragon's dark colors, but its leaves were like Blue Rose Dragon's and its tail ended in the same vine-like structure her spirit partner's did. It absolutely towered over even Blade Gunner. She'd done it. She'd done it!

"How—" Bruno said over the comm. On her dashboard, a message from the pit appeared.

AKI HOLY SHIT WOW

Looked like Crow had gotten his hands on the pit board.

" _Ladies and gentlemen, Izayoi Aki has successfully Accel Synchro summoned, a technique that so far only seemed possible for her opponent, Timothy Kant from Team Chevalier! You are seeing it here in the semifinals of the World Riding Grand Prix! With Efflorescent Rose Dragon on her side, can Izayoi be beat? Is this the end of the reign of Team Chevalier?"_

Hah. Aki allowed herself a grin. But she didn't have time to enjoy it. Bruno was rapidly losing his dumbfounded expression.

"I activate Efflorescent Rose Dragon's effect! Once per turn, I can reduce all my opponent's monsters attack to zero until the End Phase of that turn. Flash Evaporation!"

Blade Gunner faltered and lost control. Its attack went all the way down to zero, along with Power Gladiator's. She was all set now…Bruno was looking between her, Efflorescent Rose Dragon, and his own monsters frantically. He went over his hand, but seemed to find nothing there.

"I attack Power Gladiator with Efflorescent Rose Dragon! Finish this!"

If this attack got through, she'd have won. Then they just had to beat Mizoguchi and they'd be in the finals. She'd have brought them there. There was no way Mizoguchi could stand up to Efflorescent Rose Dragon.

"That was very nicely done, Aki," said Wonder Magician from somewhere to her left. "And I have to thank you. You've been a great help. We never would have managed to do this without you."

 _What?_

The sky splintered.

And broke.

Bruno froze, left hand inches away from his duel disk. Aki spun her D-Wheel around.

"Efflorescent Rose Dragon!" she screamed. The dragon swooped up from its dive and landed heavily on the track, protecting Aki from the rapidly darkened sky. Bruno passed her by and came to a stop several meters ahead of her. Aki caught up with him.

 _Incoming transmission - private_ , her board computer flashed. She glanced at Bruno and hit _accept._

"Aki, get out of here," he said urgently. "Get the guys and leave."

"What's going on?! What is that?"

Bruno didn't reply for several long moments. Speed World 2 flashed a warning and went inactive. Power Gladiator and Blade Gunner disappeared, along with all of their facedown cards, but Efflorescent Rose Dragon remained. She was keeping it here to protect them, under her own power again. Just yesterday, she would have been overjoyed about that, but now the MC in the stadium was going crazy and the sky… It darkened and broke apart. Something was coming. Something massive, a building, a city perhaps…

"Accel Synchro, I should've known…" Bruno took a deep breath. "That's the Ark Cradle. It's here."

* * *

Can I mention how much I loved writing this chapter and how much I looked forward to posting this?

Some duel notes:

 **Chevalier de Vengeance - Jeanne la Lionesse**  
Water — Warrior — Effect  
***** (5)  
If a warrior monster you control was destroyed during this turn, you can special summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can target one of your opponent's monsters lv. 4 or lower and destroy it.

ATK/1600 — DEF/1500

 **Chevalier de Moral - Jeanne la Hachette**  
Wind — Warrior — Tuner/Effect  
** (2)  
Once per turn, you can revive a monster with 'Jeanne' in its name from the graveyard.

ATK/100 — DEF/200

 **Chevalier Féroce - Jeanne la Flamme**  
Fire—Warrior—Synchro/Effect  
******* (7)  
Once per turn, you can activate one of the following effects:  
\- Every warrior monster on your side of the field gains 500 ATK  
\- You can target one magic/trap card on the field and destroy it.

ATK/1900 — DEF/2100

 **Rose Herald**  
Earth—Plant—Synchro/Tuner/Effect  
*** (3)  
During your opponent's main phase, you can Synchro Summon using this face-up card you control as Synchro Material

ATK/400 — DEF/1600

 **Efflorescent Rose Dragon**  
Water — Dragon — Synchro/Effect  
********** (10)  
This card can be Synchro Summoned during your opponent's turn. If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent. Once per turn, you can reduce the ATK of all opponents' monsters in attack mode to 0.

ATK/2900 — DEF/3100

 **Next chapter:** We are powerless/ We are powerless


	20. XVII - (Im)mobilized

**XVII. (Im)mobilized**

 _Evac now,_ Paradox's tablet read. He looked at it quickly while Sherry and Mizoguchi were still occupied with the pit board, trying to recall Antinomy. Both he and Izayoi were still standing in the middle of the road, Izayoi's Accel Synchro monster ( _Accel Synchro. How the fuck had she done that?_ ) towering above them. They had to leave. They had to make it to the Ark before Z-one and Aporia decided to do anything without their input. But Sherry…

He looked at her, hunched over her laptop. She couldn't come. She had to get out of Neo Domino before it all went wrong. It was too early. The Ark shouldn't have appeared yet. Why was it here now?

Efflorescent Rose Dragon roared in the distance. Antinomy snapped out of his daze and accelerated, followed by Izayoi.

 _Get D-Wheel, see you on Ark,_ his tablet read now. Paradox got up.

"I'm getting him off the track," he announced. Sherry turned around.

"What is that?"

'It's… That's the Ark Cradle. We have to leave." He shared a look with Mizoguchi, who nodded. At least Mizoguchi got it. He wouldn't let Sherry come to harm. "I'm getting Antinomy. Leave the stadium."

"I'm coming with you," Sherry said. The lights flickered. Oh, right.

They went out completely and their board computers stopped working. On the other side of the track, Team 5D's was dealing with a similar problem. The loudspeakers let out one last shrill shriek and gave up. Silence. Utter silence in the stadium.

Then, of course, the first person screamed.

"Momentum's gone!" Mizoguchi announced. Perfect. Paradox glanced at the 'connection lost' message on his tablet and left the room while Sherry and Mizoguchi were dealing with their computers. He'd only have a few seconds before Sherry noticed, but it had to be enough… He broke into a run once he made it to the hallway and took the stairs down to the pit garage two at a time. Sherry's D-Wheel was there, along with Mizoguchi's and, since very recently, his own. He grabbed his deck, found the Z-ONE card and slammed it into the slot Antinomy had provided for it. His D-Wheel activated. It would be the only one to do so.

"Paradox!" Sherry shouted from the top of the stairs. No time now. She couldn't come along, not for this. To Paradox's great relief, the pit bay doors had remained open after Antinomy had left. He hit the gas as Sherry skidded to a halt at the entrance of the garage. "You asshole, don't you dare run off now!"

"Sorry," he muttered, knowing she wouldn't hear. He left the garage and drove out onto the track, right in front of 5D's pit crew. The whole bunch of them was still gathered in the pit, unsure of what to do. All of them except Izayoi.

 _Incoming transmission - AN5_

"Got a tail?" he asked before Antinomy could speak. He got an affirmative grunt in response.

"Aki's behind me. Can't shake her off. I'd go Accel but…"

The towering form of Efflorescent Rose Dragon was still visible against the darkened sky, giving him a good idea of where Antinomy was.

"Do it anyway, she's not experienced enough. I'll catch up with you."

He had no need for Antinomy's reply. He veered left, off the duel lanes and into the city that had devolved into chaos. He winced. With Momentum gone, most of the cars had come to a gradual stop, but some drivers had tried to swerve and hit others. Should he stop? Paradox clenched his eyes shut for a brief moment. No time now. It could have been worse. Rush hour traffic had meant that most cars hadn't been driving particularly fast anyway. Most of the pile-ups had only caused material damage.

Efflorescent Rose Dragon came to a confused halt in the distance. Good. Antinomy had managed to shake Izayoi off. Time to get this show on the road.

 _PA3-171184,_ he typed into the board computer. Immediately the screen changed to a flashing image of the Z-ONE card. He took a right into a now-abandoned part of the city, right in time for the doorway on the card to widen into a real doorway in the fabric of space. He went through and cancelled the prompt. The arch would have closed on its own after a few minutes, but he wasn't taking any risks. It disappeared behind him and he entered the void of Z-one's realm.

Antinomy was already there, along with Z-one. No sign of any of Aporia's three forms.

"Paradox, good. Can anyone tell me how Aki learned Accel Synchro?" Z-one asked, more agitated than Paradox had heard him be in a long time.

"I don't know…" Antinomy stood next to Delta Eagle, using one hand to type on the board computer. "I have no idea how she did it. She just could."

"This has never happened in any timeline," Z-one said. "It was Fudou Yusei who—"

"Can't say it wasn't useful, though, right?" Paradox said. "I mean, that _is_ what brought the Ark down, isn't it? Her Efflorescent Rose Dragon?"

Antinomy flinched. Had he not known? But he must have.

"We are woefully unprepared. The Ark was not set to appear for another week at least," said Z-one. Antinomy continued typing.

"The central Momentum reactor has come to a complete standstill," he announced. "I'm registering radio communication to Yamakage and Tokyo."

Yamakage, the tiny, tiny sister town of Neo Domino that was just far enough away not to be impacted by the Ark. But any reinforcements wouldn't make it to Neo Domino in time, not with the few hours the city had to save itself. It wouldn't even be enough to evacuate the city. Sherry was still down there… She should have left before the Ark arrived. He'd been planning on making sure of it. But with Izayoi's Accel Synchro, it was now too late.

"Where's Aporia?" he asked.

"Aporia's three forms are already on the Ark Cradle," Z-one said. "We shall head there too. We need to prepare. Paradox, you said Fudou Yusei came last time?"

"He did."

"But Yusei's sick," Antinomy argued. "He won't be able to make it here in time. We need to give the city time. We know what's causing it now, so we can at least give them a chance."

"Satellite…" Z-one trailed off. Paradox and Antinomy exchanged looks. The denial Z-one held… According to Antinomy, that had been the case ever since they'd first met. But Z-one, whether he wanted to realize it or not, would be invested in Satellite. They could use that.

"Give them time," he urged. "If Fudou Yusei could reunite the city," and ugh, he hoped Antinomy appreciated how much effort that took for him to say, "he can do it again."

Z-one was silent for several long seconds, during which Antinomy continued typing, and Paradox resisted the urge to shift from leg to leg. "Fudou Yusei doesn't fail," he said at long last. He looked at Antinomy. "A week. We can spare a week."

 **oOoOo**

Yusei's day really wasn't going the way he'd expected it to go.

He had still been reeling from the reveal of Aki's Accel Synchro ( _Aki! Accel Synchro!_ ) when the sky had gone dark and the TV had abruptly switched to static. When he had checked his laptops, he'd discovered that the internet was down. He managed to get his phone and D-Wheel working, but that was all. A call to Jack taught him that Team 5D's was on their way. They needed to regroup and plan.

He didn't need to wait long. Half an hour after the abrupt end of the semifinals (and the WRGP with it?) he heard D-Wheels pull up next to the house, and the entire group stumbled in. Aki looked pale and her hand kept sporadically going to her deck. Jack was pissed off. Crow and the twins just looked shell-shocked.

"What happened?" Yusei asked. Aki shook her head but didn't say anything. It was Crow who answered him.

"Momentum's out. Our D-Wheels are still working, but we're the only ones. It's chaos downtown."

Yusei nodded. He'd ask more questions about that once he'd stopped reeling from the events of the day. "What happened to Team Chevalier?"

 _What happened to Bruno,_ he didn't want to ask, but everyone seemed to have understood the question anyway.

"I tried to follow Bruno, but I lost track of him near Daimon," Aki said. "I'm sorry, he's still too fast for me to keep up with."

"We saw Sherry when we left the stadium, but I don't think Paradox was with her," added Ruka softly.

So Bruno and Paradox were gone. Yusei threw a look outside the window. Probably on that thing, together with Yliaster. Had Bruno known about this? Yusei truly wished he could believe he hadn't. That he'd honestly had no idea and hadn't been able to tell Yusei in time. But then how had Aki learned Accel Synchro? When had Aki learned that, and who had taught her? He glanced at her. She flinched, but drew herself to her full height and met his look straight on.

"Congratulations on Efflorescent Rose Dragon," he said. "It was very impressive."

"Wasn't it?" Crow said. Aki smiled.

"Thanks. I… It's not what you think, exactly. Bruno didn't teach me."

Yusei had studied the footage of her summoning Efflorescent Rose Dragon, and yes, he could actually believe that. Even through his vizor, Bruno had looked as surprised as Yusei had felt.

"It was impressive," he repeated.

"Yeah, thanks." Aki looked pensive. She bit her lip and stared at the Ark, hanging over the city like a very bad nightmare. What was it going to do? It had already crippled the city; without Momentum, how was anything going to happen? How were they going to get around? Satellite would actually be better off than the City right now—It hadn't been entirely connected to the central Neo Domino Momentum Reactor yet, and many people still used old-fashioned fuel and emergency generators to get by.

"We need to find out what that is and what it's doing," Yusei said. "Regroup. Find a way to get up there."

Aki cringed. Yeah, it was kind of scary. Yusei wasn't looking forward to going there himself, but he had to. Bruno was there. He needed to know what was going on. "Bruno called it the Ark Cradle," she said softly. Yusei nodded. So at least it had a name.

"Security," Jack said. Right, yeah, that would be the best solution. Mikage and Ushio might know what was going on. Yusei nodded.

"How's traffic downtown?"

"It's a mess!" said Rua. "There are cars everywhere!"

Aki turned away from the window. "Let's split up," she said. "Should we contact Kaiba-san and Yugi-san?"

Right, Yugi-san… Was Yugi-san in the city? What about Kaiba-san and Manjoume-san and Tenjoin-san? "I'll try to get in touch with them."

"I need to go check on Mama and Papa," said Aki with a sigh. "I'm sorry, but I need to know if they're okay. I've only been back for two days…"

"That's fine." Crow put a hand on her arm. When had they become so close? "Do you need your hair roll back?"

"Later," Aki said absently. Only now did Yusei realize that she wasn't wearing her hair roll anymore. Her hair kept falling in her face and she kept brushing it back behind her ears.

Crow nodded. "Okay. Jack and me will go to Security."

"I'm coming with you." Yusei wasn't going to put up with any counterarguments today. He'd been locked up in the house for almost two weeks now and he was perfectly fine. There was no way he was staying here while the world was going up into flames. He dared anyone to stop him.

"I suppose you are pretty much better, aren't you?" Crow looked at Jack and sighed. "Yeah, sure, but the minute you start feeling worse you're going straight back home and to bed."

"Sure." Not going to happen. He looked at the twins.

"We're coming too!" Ruka declared. Her brother nodded. Yusei sighed.

"I don't suppose there's anyone home…?"

Rua shook his head. Right. One day, he was going to meet Rua and Ruka's parents and he was going to have words with them. "Alright, you can come."

The twins cheered. Outside, the sky seemed to darken even further. Maybe it was just twilight setting in, but Yusei didn't think so. They had to move. They needed to find out what was going on with the Ark and what had happened to the Momentum reactor. He grabbed his tablet and jacket. To Aki he said: "We'll meet up again here at… Ten pm, does that sound okay? If you can't make it, try to get a message through."

Once everyone had confirmed that they could still get in touch with each other, they left, Aki going first. Yusei turned to the remaining part of Team 5D's. Time to get out there and maybe, hopefully, even save the city.

 **oOoOo**

It wasn't like she'd actually lied, Aki reasoned. She had gone to see her parents after she'd left the garage. She had reassured them that she was okay and told them that she'd evacuate along with them as soon as she got to say goodbye to her friends. She didn't think they believed her, especially not after she'd gone to her room and thrown some spare clothes into the first bag she could find, but they let her go anyway. So at nine in the evening, she left home in the direction of the downtown parts of the city. Then she turned a corner and went the other way.

Tops was almost deserted when she got there. Many of its inhabitants had already arranged for transport out of the city. The guards at the entrance waved her through without so much as a second look at her ID, agitation clear on their face. It wasn't like Aki wanted to be here any more than they wanted to be, but this was her best guess. The stadium was probably deserted and closed off now. Tops… Not just yet.

Crow had told her where Sherry lived. Mere minutes later, Aki entered through the wide-open doors, no entrance code required. As she made her way to the abandoned hallway to the elevator, a couple rushed past her, carrying what looked like half a jewelry store. Of course, the rich would have no problem getting out of Neo Domino. She thought she suddenly had an idea of how Crow and Yusei and Jack had to feel.

Aki paused in front of door 405, took a deep breath and knocked.

No response. Were they gone? She had just raised her hand to knock a second time when Sherry flung open the door, her hair in disarray and face a picture of fury.

"You assholes finally deci—" She came to an abrupt pause when she saw Aki. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, pretty sure those assholes are up there," Aki said wryly, pointing a thumb at the ceiling. "Paradox's gone then?"

"Ditched me when Momentum stopped working." Clearly, Sherry had taken that as a personal insult. "'Don't worry, Sherry, we'll find your answers.' Liars, the both of them." She glanced back over her shoulder and stepped outside, into the hallway. "Why are you here?"

"I need to have a little talk with your second wheeler and his monsters."

"And your team?"

Aki hesitated. "I'd… Rather not see them involved with this. They won't take it well."

"Ah, you know about Satellite." Sherry sighed. "We had a plan. Or I suppose they had a plan, since they were so eager to run off the moment that thing appeared. So now we're all stuck down here, and I don't think we'll be learning to fly any time soon."

"Yeah, about that." Aki smiled. "I've got a score to settle with them, and you do too. I can get us up there. Coming?"

Sherry's eyes hardened. "Give me five minutes."

 **oOoOo**

Sherry walked straight to her room and grabbed her jacket, deck and duel disk. She paused. Mizoguchi would realize she'd left soon enough. Until then… The Z-ONE card had been her key to Yliaster, but she didn't need it anymore now that she had a better way of getting there. She took it out of her deck and neatly put it on top of her pillow. Maybe it would be of some use to Mizoguchi. She turned off the lights and, at the last second, grabbed her bag.

"I'll be going out for a few minutes," she announced when she entered the living room again. "I'll be right back."

Mizoguchi sighed. "Milady, you shouldn't be leaving alone."

"It'll just be a few minutes."

Mizoguchi got up from the table. "I have known you since you were three," he only said. Sherry schooled her expression. Right, yes. If anyone could see right through her, it would be Mizoguchi. Was it even worth keeping up the charade? She didn't want to leave on bad terms with him.

"I have to do this," she said at long last. She couldn't look at him. "Yliaster is up there. I need to know what happened to my parents."

"I am aware, milady. Let me come with you. I promised your parents I would look after you." Mizoguchi made an aborted move in her direction. "I have seen you grow up, Sherry, and you are more than capable of facing Yliaster. But I don't want you to do so on your own."

How many times had he called her 'Sherry'? She could count the number on one hand. Sherry blinked furiously. "I need you down here. If things go wrong, I need you to get us off, okay? Aki and I… And I suppose those two idiots as well."

"I had thought Paradox liked you enough to not leave without warning," Mizoguchi said. "I suppose I was mistaken."

"Yeah, well, I thought so too." Sherry pushed her nails into the palm of her hand. That just meant she'd get to chew him out for it. Letting her in on their plans and then ditching her after promising her answers? Jackass. Sure, Bruno she had expected to run. He did way too much running anyway, from his memories, from Yusei, from everything that didn't quite fit his ideal life. But Paradox? She'd hoped he'd be more realistic. She'd thought he'd known her better than to assume she would just stay behind. "Mizoguchi, I'm sorry, but I need you to be here. I need to know there's someone I can trust to get me out."

There was a good chance that all of this was going to go very wrong. She had known Mizoguchi for so long… Longer than Maman and Papan. He had given up his entire life to protect her and follow her all across the world. How could she ever repay him for that?

"I cannot stop you, milady. But promise me that you will be careful. Do not do anything rash."

"I promise." On impulse, she hugged him. She hadn't hugged him since she'd turned twelve and thought herself too old for those things, and she had forgotten just how comforting that had been, having someone hold her, having someone be there for her. She had been taking Mizoguchi for granted. What if he wasn't there anymore one day? Then what would she do? Sure, she had contacts across the world, but they would drop her as soon as she wasn't useful anymore. She'd thought Paradox was a friend, but she could see how that had turned out. No, Mizoguchi couldn't come to any danger. Because if she lost him, then she lost the one stable point she had in her life, and then what would she do?

Mizoguchi clutched her tight. "Be safe, Sherry," he said, voice hoarse. Sherry nodded. She was reluctant to let go, but Aki was waiting. If they wanted to make it up there before anyone noticed they were gone…

"You have everything? Phone, tablet? Do you need food?"

"We'll be fine, I promise." She looked up. "Promise. If there's anything, I'll call."

Mizoguchi let out a long breath. "All right. Good luck."

Sherry grabbed her stuff and almost ran out of the room before she could do anything as stupid as crying. She wouldn't cry, not over this. It wasn't like she was going away forever. She'd been on far more dangerous missions on her own in the past. Confronting Yliaster? Piece of cake. She'd have Aki with her, and she wanted to believe that Paradox and Bruno wouldn't let her get killed in cold blood, at least.

Aki was still waiting in the hallway, tying her bangs back and sighing in frustration when they kept escaping the tie. She breathed a sigh of relief when Sherry appeared. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. Come on." Sherry turned on her heel and led Aki down the hallway. She was going up there, and she was finally going to see Yliaster. They were silent during the elevator ride back to the ground floor, and Aki kept glancing at her phone as they stepped outside. Sherry raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are _you_ okay with this?"

"Yeah… Yes, no problem. It's just that the guys will probably start wondering where I am in about fifteen minutes, give or take." She pocketed her phone. "Let's go. We need somewhere with lots of space."

"There's a sports field further west."

"That'll do." Aki paused by her D-Wheel and cast a regretful look at it. "Can I leave it here? Will it be safe?"

Her D-Wheel actually still worked? "Mizoguchi will look after it. But how are you going to get us up there anyway?"

Aki smiled and patted her deck. "We're going by dragon."

… What?

"I thought you couldn't summon any monsters anymore."

"Yeah, well." Aki turned wistful. "Turns out Clear Mind is useful for more than just Accel Synchro. I had a pretty enlightening conversation with my monsters. I had been blocking off my own powers for so long… I didn't tell the guys I had them back. I think Bruno might have seen me summon Efflorescent Rose Dragon, but I don't know. But anyway, my monsters can get us up there."

They both looked up at the Ark Cradle, hovering over the city center of Neo Domino only a few miles away. The sky was pitch black and had been ever since it appeared. Paradox was up there, and Yliaster. Bruno too, and Z-one, whoever that might be. Paradox and Bruno had mentioned him every so often, but she'd never been able to get much information about him out of them.

"Let's go."

They traipsed through the darkness until they reached the sports field behind the communal sports center. It had been locked up for the night, but both she and Aki easily vaulted the gate. It wasn't the first time she'd had to break into places. This one was a piece of cake. Aki walked over to the middle of the field and closed her eyes, duel disk held high in front of her.

"Appear, Black Rose Dragon!"

Sherry jumped back as the giant dragon appeared in front of Aki, obscuring her from view entirely. Wow, it had not looked this giant on-screen when Aki had been dueling Bruno. If this was what Black Rose Dragon looked like up close, then what would Efflorescent Rose Dragon look like? The dragon stared her down. Sherry refused to budge. It was a dragon, and perhaps it was very big and very intimidating, but she'd looked more dangerous people in the eye and gotten away with it. This dragon was an ally, she repeated to herself. She would not let herself be scared by it.

"Sherry, come on!" Aki shouted. She was already clambering on top of the dragon, who dutifully bowed her head. Sherry reshouldered her bag and carefully put a foot on one of the massive wings. Aki held out a hand and helped her get on top.

"Ready?"

… Maybe she should have taken her helmet with her. Too late for that now. She tried to find a solid grip amongst the leaf-like wings of the dragon and found something that resembled vines enough to give her a good handhold. "Ready."

"Black Rose Dragon, let's go."

Sherry gasped as the dragon spread its massive wings. It took off with a jump and flapped its wings once, twice, taking them several feet into the air all at once. Within seconds, they were soaring out of the stadium and above Tops. The dragon made a ninety-degree turn and shot up almost vertically. Sherry clutched its wings frantically and even Aki tightened her grip.

"A bit slower, please," she yelled over the howling of the wind. The dragon complied and its flight path stabilized. Phew. Dragons probably weren't going to replace airplanes anytime soon.

They were now closing in on the lower parts of the Ark Cradle. From here, Sherry could actually see lights flickering. They were there. There were people on the Ark Cradle.

One of the lights grew brighter as they neared. Sherry squinted and jostled Aki's shoulder. "What do you think that is?" she shouted. Black Rose Dragon turned towards the source of the light. It brightened, turning red-hot. And Sherry suddenly realized what it was.

"Dodge!" she screamed, just as the blast shot out. Black Rose Dragon dove, and the blast missed them by mere meters. Sherry could actually feel the heat. It soared over their heads, over the city and —thank god— into the ocean. A pillar of water shot up as a second blast came their way. Black Rose Dragon swerved, but the blast clipped her wing and she cried out.

"Black Rose Dragon!" Aki rose from her seat and activated her duel disk. "Why the hell are they attacking us?"

Sherry grabbed her own duel disk. Had she been wrong about Paradox? Did he really not care whether she lived or died? Well, if that was the case…

"Aki!" She showed the card. Aki nodded and took it.

"Chevalier de Fleur!"

Her own signature monster appeared, sword already unsheathed. She took one look at Black Rose Dragon and her two passengers, then the Ark, and headed towards it, sword raised, as a third blast came their way. Chevalier de Fleur swung at it, caught it on the hilt of her sword, and deflected it. It hit the lower parts of the Ark. Sherry watched in horror as one of the building-like structures crumbled and fell down to the city below.

"Oh no…" Aki mouthed. The rubble collided with a skyscraper, throwing up smoke plumes and setting off sirens audible even this high up.

"Chevalier de Fleur, be careful!" Sherry shouted. They could not afford this. They could not let the Ark destroy the city. There were so many people down there… Oh, she hoped that building had been empty. What if it hadn't been?

A fourth blast. Black Rose Dragon keened pitifully and Chevalier de Fleur raised her sword again. Sherry braced herself—

And a third dragon appeared, its wings made out of cut ice, its body white and reflective. It caught the blast with its body, shielding them both from the attack. The dragon groaned, but held. It turned its head and stared straight at Sherry.

"Trishula."

Black Rose Dragon paused in mid-air, hovering in place behind the protection of the dragon. Aki turned around.

"What's that?"

"Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier," said Sherry. She couldn't adequately describe the relief she felt. "It's Paradox's. We made that deck."

The cannon, or whatever it was, had stopped firing. Paradox had recognized them, and that had been enough to call off the attacks. So he didn't actually want to kill them. "Let's go up. I think it's safe now."

Aki nodded and patted Black Rose Dragon's broad neck. The dragon flew up again, followed by Chevalier de Fleur and Trishula. They made it to the top of the Ark, a flattened structure, and landed with a heavy _thud._ Trishula landed next to them, eyes still fixed on Sherry. It growled at her.

"Don't you dare give me that," Sherry snapped. She slid off Black Rose Dragon and landed on the ground with unsteady legs. Dragons weren't her preferred mode of transportation. Aki jumped off next to her and patted Black Rose Dragon's neck.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Will you please stick around a bit longer?"

Good idea. Trishula might have ended up protecting them, but they had no idea what to expect from the Ark Cradle or the people on it. Yliaster was here too, Sherry reminded herself. They had already killed her parents. Just because Paradox didn't want them dead didn't mean Yliaster had any such qualms.

The road beneath began to light up. Within seconds, what looked like a path had appeared, leading to the middle of the Ark. Sherry couldn't see what was there. It looked like a hole, and she didn't plan on jumping in.

"I suppose that's clear," Aki muttered. "Come on."

Trishula stayed next to them as they crossed the top of the Ark Cradle. Chevalier de Fleur pointedly stepped in between the dragon and Sherry, her sword still raised. Black Rose Dragon growled at it every once in a while.

The middle of the Ark Cradle was exactly what Sherry had predicted: a big hole. She looked down into it. It didn't seem to lead straight through the Ark, but the interior was pitch-black.

"Yeah, not going in there," she muttered. Trishula whined pitifully.

Aki peered down. "I guess we could fly down," she said. "I don't like waiting here until they decide to come get us."

"I don't like following their orders much either," Sherry said, but Aki made a good point. Besides, she thought as she pulled her jacket closed, it was cold. The top of the Ark got buffeted by wind on all sides and the night air, which had been so comfortable down on the ground, was chilly and cold here. She bit the inside of her cheek. Tough choices. "All right, let's go down. But we ought to keep an eye out."

Aki nodded. "How's your wing?" she asked Black Rose Dragon. The dragon spread its wings, one of which looked burnt and charred. Aki's eyes hardened. "You're doing great. Do you think you can keep going?"

Black Rose Dragon lowered her head in what appeared to be a nod. Aki narrowed her eyes. "Okay then. If I find out who hurt Black Rose Dragon…" Aki climbed back onto the monster's back and Sherry followed after her. Chevalier de Fleur stayed behind them, sword still unsheathed but held at her side now.

Down they went, into utter darkness. Black Rose Dragon had no trouble seeing, but Sherry was completely lost. There was no light anywhere. She thought she spotted platforms sticking out of the wall in the faint light still coming in from above them, but the dragon bypassed them and went further down to the center of the Ark Cradle. Finally, it reached the ground and landed softly. Aki stayed seated.

"Where do you think we are?" she asked in a hushed whisper. Before Sherry could reply, light appeared in the distance, along with the sound of an engine. D-Wheels. The familiar shape of Delta Eagle and the newly-familiar one of Paradox's D-Wheel appeared in the distance. Oh, now they deigned to show their faces.

"Have you gone absolutely crazy!?" were Paradox's first words when he jumped off his D-Wheel. "You could've gotten killed!"

Sherry stood up. The bulk of Black Rose Dragon gave her an impressive advantage. "Don't you dare, Paradox. You're the ones who almost shot us out of the sky, so don't you _dare_ blame us!"

"That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't come here!"

"Which wouldn't have happened if you two—" Sherry was screaming. "— _Hadn't run off!_ "

She took a deep, shuddering breath. Above their heads, Trishula disappeared.

"You were supposed to have left," Paradox muttered. Even in the faint light of the D-Wheels' headlights, she could make out how tense he was. Good. Aki stood up and slid off Black Rose Dragon.

"Did you really think we would leave? Really? You get us caught up in this mess and you think we'd actually _leave?_ " She made a wide gesture. "Don't tell me it's a coincidence that I summon Efflorescent Rose Dragon and the Ark Cradle appears moments afterwards, Bruno!"

Bruno said nothing. Aki's glare focused on a point somewhere above his left shoulder. She narrowed her eyes. "Or Wonder Magician, perhaps I should ask you?"

Bruno's Synchro Tuner appeared, looking mildly annoyed. "Did no one ever tell you it's not good form to summon monsters without their permission?" she said.

"It's not good form to lie to people either," Aki snapped. "And don't tell me that you never lied to me. You never told me the full truth."

"Wait, Wonder Magician?" Bruno looked between his own monster and Aki. Sherry had to admit that she was confused too, and even Paradox seemed unsure of what was going on.

"Of course. Who do you think told me about Accel Synchro, Bruno?"

Bruno turned to his monster. "You _knew?_ About Accel Synchro and the Ark…" he took a deep breath. "You knew it would—"

"Of course we knew." Wonder Magician flew up. "You all forget how long we've been here. We've seen everything. We were right there with you for every single day of that godforsaken future. And if you think we won't use that knowledge, then you're very, very wrong."

With a last flourish, she turned around and flew away from them. "Wonder Magician!" Aki shouted after her, but the monster didn't return. Sherry jumped down from Black Rose Dragon at long last.

"So promising me answers, was that a lie too, Paradox? Let's use Sherry Leblanc and then ditch her the moment something bigger shows up?"

"No! I was gonna…" He trailed off. Bruno sighed.

"It's far too dangerous for you two here," he said. "You can't stay here. If this goes wrong, you'll die."

"As will you," said Aki. Bruno and Paradox exchanged looks.

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Don't you dare tell me that's acceptable," Aki snapped. "Whether you like it or not, there are people down there who care about you, so don't you dare go sacrifice yourself."

"It's—"

 _"Not acceptable."_

Aki was more than a foot shorter than Bruno, but Sherry had to say that she made a frightening sight, backed by Black Rose Dragon. She stepped up next to her.

"You told me about your plans, didn't you? And now, when you get down to it, you want to leave me out? I've been looking for Yliaster my whole life. I am not leaving before I know what's going on, and you don't get to back out now." She focused on Paradox. He was the one who'd let her meet her parents. He was the one who'd told her she'd find answers.

"You were supposed to leave," Paradox repeated.

"Really? That's the best you can come up with? Whatever made you think I was going to leave?"

"Mizoguchi ought've—"

"No." Sherry walked up to him. "You don't get to tell me what to do. We're here, and we are not leaving. And if you want to fight us over that," Chevalier de Fleur raised her sword, "bring it on."

"Whoa, hey!" Paradox raised his hands. Bruno made an aborted move in their direction. "No one wants to fight anyone here!"

"Could've fooled me."

"Look, okay, sorry, we shouldn't have left without saying anything. We just didn't want you to get involved."

"A bit too late for that, isn't it?" Sherry said. "Should've thought of that before showing up at my front door—"

Aki's phone started ringing. She blanched and fumbled with it. They still had connection here, all the way on the Ark Cradle? Aki turned off the viewscreen and raised a finger to her lips before answering.

"Crow, hello?"

Bruno and Paradox exchanged uncomfortable looks. Sherry grimaced. Right, Team 5D's. They'd be wondering where Aki was very soon.

"No, I'm on my way, sorry. It's just that they had a pileup here and I'm having trouble getting past it. You guys get started without me…" she made a face. "No, the screen's not connecting. I guess the network got damaged or something… Yeah, yeah, I'll get there when I get there… I will be, see you later!"

She ended the call and glanced at Sherry.

"Yusei and the guys don't know you're here?" Bruno ventured. Aki shook her head.

"I give it until tomorrow morning before they realize where I am." She swallowed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Then, with a sigh, she said, "So whatever plan you have, you might as well get it working right now, before they do anything as stupid as trying to come up here."

"Like you did, you mean?" Paradox growled. Sherry glared.

"Either way," Bruno hastened to say. "It's moot. There are no other ways to get up here… Unless the Crimson Dragon…" he looked at the ground. "We'll see. Let's hope not."

Aki nodded solemnly. "So now what?"

"Sherry Leblanc," said a heavy voice, echoing throughout the room. Bruno and Paradox sighed simultaneously. Sherry looked around. Who the hell was that? "Aki… Izayoi Aki. If you truly wish for answers, then please come along."

"Who's that?" Aki asked. Sherry shifted her weight to her back leg. Yliaster?

"That's Z-one," said Bruno. "He'll explain things. Just… If you want to leave, now's the moment to do so."

"Not a chance." Sherry grabbed her bag and Aki straightened out her coat. "Show us."

 **OOoOo**

"No word from Aki?" Yusei asked. Crow shook his head and stared morosely out of the window. It had been almost an hour since he'd called Aki. Had the upper city really gotten that bad? Security hadn't been able to tell them much about the situation in the City. Mikage and Ushio hadn't even been in, and no one really knew where they were. Jaeger… No one had seen him in a while. Perhaps they ought to go looking for him, but where even to begin in a city that had come to a complete standstill? At least their D-Wheels still worked. That was far more than could be said for the rest of the city.

Many people had started to evacuate, even though Security hadn't given the official order yet. Crow thought they had the right idea. Heck, less than two hours ago, things on the Ark had started exploding and some of the rubble had even impacted with the city center! Was that just a prelude of things to come?

"Aki can take care of herself," Yusei said with more conviction than Crow felt. Yusei's contact with Kaiba Corp. had been equally fruitless. The company was reeling from the lack of Momentum and wasn't expecting to recover before tomorrow at the very earliest. Long-distance calls were a thing of the past. It was a small miracle their phones still worked at all.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Crow leaned his arms on the windowsill. "I'm afraid… I dunno, I don't like being separated right now."

"Maybe Aki-neesan went back home?" Ruka suggested. She and Rua were watching over Yusei's shoulder as he tried to get access to the radio transmissions and CCTV footage. He'd managed to get to the radio broadcasts, but so far, they had only heard outgoing calls for help and the replies from the neighboring cities. Tokyo had sent a helicopter that had entered the city perimeter half an hour ago. They had been able to hear live how the helicopter lost Momentum the minute it crossed the fifty-mile boundary and mercifully managed to make an emergency landing near Yamakage. Anything working on Momentum would stop doing so the minute it came near the Ark Cradle.

"Maybe, yeah." Ruka was probably right. Aki must've gone back home to her parents. They'd see her in the morning, no doubt.

Jack was on the phone, trying to call Carly. He hadn't had any luck so far. When had they last seen Carly anyway? Crow had spotted her a few times at the café next door even after her break-up with Jack and he was fairly sure she had been in the audience at the WRGP. She should be okay, right? She wasn't involved in this, not like last time, with the Dark Signers. At least the kids were okay… Crow had called Martha first thing after they'd left the stadium. They had left the stadium safely, and while they had had to walk home, they'd made it back to Satellite safe and sound. Strange how, after everything, Satellite seemed to be the nicer place to be right now. They had been so used to random power cuts and chaos that none of them were still surprised when it happened. They knew how to cope perfectly well. The City, which hadn't seen a single power outage in over fifteen years, wasn't so prepared. Heh. Crow couldn't help but feel a strange sort of Schadenfreude. Now they knew what it was like.

"Right." Yusei got up and carried his laptop to the table. "So far, all we know is that no one knows anything. Momentum isn't working for anyone except us—" he gestured at their little group. Rua frowned. Yeah, Rua had been the only one to not get anything that ran on Momentum to work, and it was wearing on him. Besides, it was already far too late for the twins to still be awake. "—and presumably the Ark Cradle."

Yusei paused there, eyes gaining a faraway look. "It's not moving at all. It's been stationary for the last six hours, and apart from those explosions two hours ago… Nothing."

"But Yliaster is up there," said Rua. "They have to be."

"And Paradox and Bruno, I'll bet everything," Jack added. Yusei nodded reluctantly.

"Yes, probably."

Crow moved away from the window and took a seat next to Yusei. "So something's going to happen. They wouldn't make that massive thing appear and then do nothing with it."

"They already are," Yusei pointed out. "It's crippled the city."

"You don't think it's going to crash on top of the city, right?" Rua asked in a small voice. Crow felt the blood drain from his face. He exchanged an uncomfortable look with Jack. They wouldn't, right? That would destroy the city… What was the point of saving their future if they were doing it by destroying entire cities? But then, Paradox had been perfectly willing to kill people…

Yusei stayed suspiciously silent. He was staring at the screen of his laptop, which held a bunch of calculations far too complicated for Crow to ever bother with. Whatever he was looking for, the file clearly didn't have the answers he needed, because he closed it with a sigh. "I think I'll go to NDU," he announced. Crow raised his eyebrows.

"Not really the moment for university applications."

"I _meant_ , visit their physics department. Maybe they will know more. They're keeping tabs on the central reactor."

Oh, that made a lot more sense. He glanced at Rua and Ruka. Despite all the excitement, the twins looked about ready to fall asleep. It was now past eleven, and they hadn't seen hide nor hair from Aki. But the Ark Cradle was still hanging in the sky, unmoving as ever. If anything was going to happen today, wouldn't it have happened already?

"We should wait until tomorrow," he said.

Yusei looked like he was about to argue, but he finally took a deep breath and nodded. "They probably won't like interlopers today. I'll go tomorrow." He looked down. "There must be some people there who knew my parents. I'm sure they'd be willing to talk to me."

"Want us to come along?" Jack asked. Yusei shook his head.

"I'll be fine on my own. We'll see what tomorrow's like."

"Right." Jack stood up. "That's decided. Tomorrow we'll find a way to get those assholes off that thing and get rid of it!"

Leave it to Jack, Crow thought as he saw Yusei's grateful smile. Oh yes, they would need to get everyone off the Ark first before they could do anything about it. Because Paradox was a complete asshole and Crow needed to have some serious words with Bruno, but he didn't need to see them die and Yusei needed to see that even less.

Ruka shot up abruptly. "What about Sherry?" she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Sherry?" For a second, Yusei looked flabbergasted. Crow felt the same. They'd forgotten all about Team Chevalier after its abrupt dissolution.

Ruka nodded. "Maybe she knows more? She knew Bruno and Paradox, right? I mean…" she trailed off. "If they were friends, maybe they told her something."

Crow grimaced. Ruka drastically overestimated Sherry's relationship with those two. He wasn't even sure if Paradox even could have friends apart from Bruno. Still.

"It can't hurt," Yusei said. "They live in Tops, so Ruka, perhaps you and Rua can…"

Ruka nodded seriously. "We'll go visit them tomorrow."

Right. So everyone had their job now. Crow rested his head on his arms. Now they just had to wait until morning. The city was so dark now without lights. He thought he could even see stars past the bulk of the Ark Cradle. It was going to be a very long night.

It turned eleven, but Rua and Ruka lingered. Crow sighed and glanced at the twins. "Anyone home with you?"

Ruka shook her head and looked down. Of course. Rua and Ruka had a couple of nannies whose sole involvement in their lives consisted of checking every other week or so whether they were still alive. Those nannies were probably not around now, and sending the twins home this late, with the Ark hanging above the city and Security even more trigger-happy than usual? Crow exchanged a look with Jack and Yusei. Yeah, not happening.

"Stay here tonight," he told them. "Do you need to call anyone?"

"Nah." Rua waved a hand. "No one home. Can we really stay?"

"Only if you go to bed now," Yusei said with a faint smile. The twins protested, but Yusei pointed at the clock. "It's past eleven. If you guys want to head back to Tops tomorrow, you'll have to be well-rested."

Crow agreed. "Take my room. I'll sleep down here."

He usually did so anyway. He didn't like mattresses. His mattress here was far better than the one Security had provided its prisoners with, but the memories were a bit too vivid sometimes.

The twins were clearly reluctant to go to sleep, but Yusei found milk that hadn't gone off yet to make them chocolate milk and Jack shepherded them upstairs with their cups. Crow leaned back and stared at his phone. Aki hadn't called back and she had never shown up. He hoped she was okay.

Jack came back downstairs. "Out like a light," he announced. He fell down in the chair next to Crow's and nodded at Yusei, who was typing away on his laptop. "So now what? Do you have internet?"

"No." Yusei grimaced. "But I'm trying to pick up the radio frequencies. There's communication, I'm sur— Ah, here we go!"

He turned up the volume. At first, there was only static, but slowly, Crow started picking out words.

" _—Has offensive capabilities. First shot fired 47 minutes ago, last shot fired 44 minutes ago, four shots registered. Damage to the inner city. Deploying Neo Domino branch of Japan Self-Defense Forces."_

Crow froze. Yusei's eyes widened. "They're attacking the Ark?" he said. "The Ark attacked the city?"

How had they missed that? When had that happened?

"Must've been Yliaster," Yusei muttered. He turned up the volume some more. For a moment, there were only loud crackling noises. Yusei adjusted the frequency and the voices crystallized.

" _Neo Domino City Red Cross Rapid Response Team has been called in,"_ the radio continued. Jack leaned forward in his chair. Crow bit the inside of his cheek. Really, what good were they going to do?

" _Has the creature been identified?_ "

Now they all exchanged looks. What creature? What had been going on while they were talking? They should've looked outside more often.

" _Preliminary reports inconclusive. Pictorial evidence is blurry, but shows a monster that has been suggested to be the duel monster Black Rose Dragon._ "

Crow's thoughts came to a crashing halt.

"She didn't," Jack muttered. Yusei stared at the laptop in shocked silence. Crow balled his hands. She wouldn't have— She'd said—

"God _dammit_ Aki!" He pounded a hand on the table and snatched his cell phone from his pocket. He punched in Aki's name furiously. He'd called her and she'd lied to him. She'd goddamn lied to him. The phone rang once, twice, three times and then went to voice mail. Crow was too furious to leave a message. How could she do that to them?

On the radio, people were still talking. " _—The Izayois?_ " Crow caught. Oh, of course, Aki's parents would not be happy to learn that their dearest daughter had done something so incredibly stupid as to— Crow snatched up his jacket.

"I'm going out. I'm not staying here for another fucking second while she does something as stupid as that!"

"I'm going with you," Jack said. He shoved his chair aside a bit too forcefully. Yusei got up along with him.

"What are you going to do?" He looked out of the window. "We have no way up there. Aki was our only way…"

And she'd cut that off for them quite nicely. She hadn't even told them she had her powers back! Crow scowled. Yusei mirrored his expression.

"What about the twins?" Jack asked. … Right, yeah. They couldn't leave them here all alone without telling them where they'd gone.

Yusei sighed and glanced at the laptop. "I"ll stay here," he finally said, reluctantly. "Someone needs to keep an eye on the radio. I can get into the radio frequencies easily here, but it'll be harder out there." He looked up. "Just keep me updated. If anything happens, I'll head over."

"Keep in touch," Jack said. Crow gave him a grateful smile. Yusei had been cooped up for so long. Technically, he still wasn't allowed to go outside, but he was mostly better and the circumstances had changed. For him to decide to stay behind anyway was a big sacrifice.

"Right. Let's go."

He glanced at his phone when he and Jack headed to the garage. One day, Aki was going to pick up and they were going to have a very long talk.

 **oOoOo**

Mokuba had gotten them seats in the VIP section for the semi-finals and the finals of the WRGP. That meant that Yugi had had front-row seats for Team 5D's and Team Chevalier's duel and the subsequent fall-out. He, Anzu and Jounouchi-kun, along with Manjoume-kun and several of the high-ranking sponsors who had been holed up in the VIP section, had been ushered out by Security before anyone else in the stadium. Once outside, they had all exchanged a look with one another and by unspoken agreement headed towards the main Kaiba Corporation building.

They'd found Mokuba there. The lights in his office were on—Kaiba had never quite believed in Momentum, particularly not after Yugi's warnings. While both he and Mokuba had had no other choice but to make the switch to Momentum just to keep ahead of the competition, there had always been emergency generators and solar panels in place.

Tenjoin-san had arrived an hour later, her body one long line of tension. They hadn't received word from anyone else, but with all phone lines and the internet down, that wasn't surprising. At least they had gotten the radio up and running.

It had been hours since then, hours in which they'd discussed the matter at hand over and over and fruitlessly tried to come up with a plan. They were unable to contact anyone. At least some of their friends weren't in Neo Domino right now, but far too many still were.

Mokuba had kept in contact with Security over the radio all the while, but had been unable to do much at all. It was almost midnight and they were still seated in Mokuba's office. Yugi was chewing despondently on one of the cafeteria sandwiches. Manjoume-kun had joined him. Anzu was standing in front of the window, looking up a the Ark Cradle. Mokuba and Tenjoin-kun had taken to listening to the scattered radio messages coming through.

"I can't take this, I'm going out," Jounouchi-kun announced, grabbing his jacket. Mokuba made a noise of protest but Yugi took one look at his half-eaten sandwich and got up too.

"I'm coming too."

They ventured into the dark stairways of Kaiba Corp. in silence. At the reception desk, a man and a woman were still keeping post, but they barely looked up when Yugi and Jounouchi-kun passed them. They left the building to a ghost town. The initial chaos had dissipated in the hours since Security and the National Defense Forces had cordoned off the city.

"Never a dull moment in this city, is there?" Jounouchi-kun joked with a strained smile. Yugi chuckled. It sounded vaguely desperate even to his own ears.

"I suppose we should've expected something like this."

They had tried many things throughout the years, but despite their best efforts, Kaiba Corp. no longer held the sway it once had in Domino. Yugi himself didn't either. Rex Goodwin had shielded Momentum from all intervention by them. Even their attempts to reach Yusei as a child or do anything for Satellite at all had always been blocked off, lost in a mire of paperwork and people strangely unwilling to even consider giving them access to Satellite. They had hoped that Rex Goodwin would have been on their side, having been a colleague of Yusei's parents. The man himself had always been very cordial. He had been at first surprised and then horrified to learn that Yusei was still alive and trapped in Satellite and had promised to do what was necessary. Knowing what they knew now, his words made more sense than Yugi liked to think about.

They walked the five blocks separating Kaiba Corp. from the city center. They were met with a Security blockage once they came within a street of the Security building. Yugi made to turn around.

"C'mon, not worth trying to get through."

"Hold up." Jounouchi-kun grabbed his arm and nodded towards the officers. They were arguing with someone. Yugi strained to make out the words. People trying to reach their houses? Nothing they could do about it.

"You know me. We can help you, so if you'll let us through—" a tall man was saying.

"Sirs, please return to your houses."

"At least call Ushio-san," his shorter companion said. "I know your radios still work. He'll back us up."

"Please go back to your homes," the security officer repeated. "We have no need for civilians' help now."

In the weak light of the officers' flashlights, Yugi couldn't make out their faces, but something about them was familiar…

"Momentum actually works for us!" the taller man made a wide gesture towards his D-Wheel, which, _yes,_ was actually running.

"Atlas-san, please leave."

Was that—?

"C'mon Jack, this isn't worth the headache," the shorter one said. Jack Atlas, Yusei's friend. And then the other one had to be Crow Hogan.

Yugi hurried forward. If their D-Wheels actually worked, that was massive! "Just a second!" he called out as the men mounted their D-Wheels again.

" _What_?" Jack Atlas snapped. Then he actually looked at him and Jounouchi-kun and his eyes went wide.

"Yugi Mutou," Yugi said quickly. "You're friends with Yusei-kun, aren't you? Do you mind if we talk to you for a second?"

Both of them looked dumbstruck, a reaction Yugi had dealt with far too often throughout the years to still be put off by.

"Sure," Crow Hogan said with a weak chuckle. "Yusei's not here, though."

"That's fine. You say your D-Wheels still work? Do you think you could come back with us to Kaiba Corp.?

"Fine." Jack Atlas was quickly losing his dumbstruck look, replaced by annoyance. "Not like those idiots are being any help whatsoever."

Jounouchi-kun chuckled. "What were you going to do anyway?"

"They've been screaming on all channels about how they're lacking resources and about how the Red Cross is lacking transport and how the hospitals don't have enough emergency power… Well, we figured we'd give a hand." Crow Hogan cast a dark look over his shoulder. "But apparently they're doing just fine on their own."

"What were you going to do with two D-Wheels?" Jounouchi-kun asked as they crossed the street back towards Kaiba Corp. Yugi couldn't help but agree. It was very impressive that the D-Wheels still worked at all, but it wouldn't be nearly enough to provide the city with even a tenth of what it needed right now.

"Not just our D-Wheels." Jack took out his phone. It was powered up and showing a full signal. "Everything connected to Momentum still works for us. I could probably get into any car right now and it'd function."

That was… amazing news, but not something to discuss in the middle of the street. They walked back to Kaiba Corp. In silence. They were all twitchy and the unnaturally dark streets didn't make it better.

The entrance of the building was looming in view when Yugi thought he heard fireworks go off. Only for the noise to immediately be followed by a much louder, further off noise. He wheeled around just in time to see a second round of flashes impact with the building in the sky. Debris rained down, nowhere near them, but Yugi could only watch with a sickening sense of dread as it hit some of the buildings nearest to Central.

"The hell are they doing?!" Jack shouted and Crow yelled: "Aki!"

Jounouchi-kun grabbed his arm as he made to charge back towards the center. Yugi stepped into their path.

"Stay here. You can't do anything there except make it worse for yourself. They'll be fine. That thing's still standing, see?"

The structure didn't seem to have taken much damage at all. Crow reluctantly relaxed, as did Jack.

"What the hell were they thinking?" Jounouchi-kun said. Yugi agreed.

"C'mon, we can't keep standing here. We've got a radio inside, we can find out what happened."

Jack and Crow didn't seem very eager to join them at all, but they reluctantly followed them inside the building, where everyone else was clustered around the radio. Anzu got up when they entered and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh thank god you're okay."

Yugi hugged her closer and gave her a quick kiss. "We're fine. What happened out there?"

"The Defense Forces." Tenjoin-kun let out a harsh laugh. "They started shooting. Didn't accomplish anything only the Red Cross has now lost contact with an entire team on the ground."

Yugi let out a hissed breath. Jounouchi-kun swore.

"Goddamn idiots."

They waited for several minutes, but the shooting didn't continue. At least someone had seen reason out there. Jack and Crow were still fixated on the building, only vaguely visible from the window. Crow was fiddling with his phone and looking more agitated by the minute.

"Could you tell us anything more about that building?" Mokuba asked when the silence became unbearable. Crow pocketed his phone and breathed out heavily. Jack made a disgusted noise.

"It's called the Ark Cradle", he said. "Some bullshit thing Yliaster came up with. I'm sure they're all having fun up there."

Yugi took Anzu's hand; she squeezed it. Maybe they had been too careless in giving Paradox and Yliaster free rein.

"Izayoi-san went up there," Tenjoin-san stated. Crow tensed up.

"Yes. She did."

"Johan said last week that she'd learned how to see spirits, but not how to summon them again," Manjoume-kun said, leaning against the window. "Were you aware she could?"

Both Manjoume-kun's eyes and Tenjoin-san's were laser-focused. Crow let out a harsh laugh. His fists were clenched.

"No. No we weren't. Apparently that's not a thing worth mentioning anymore. Don't even ask what she's doing up there, I don't have a goddamn clue."

"That's okay," Anzu said. "I'm sure we'll find out. We'll see what we can do here on the ground first. You said Momentum still works for you?"

Crow took a deep breath and turned back to the window to stare up despondently at the Ark. Jack shook his head.

"That's what we were telling the Security guys. You've heard it, right?" he nodded at the radio. "They've been calling for working vehicles on all channels we've listened into. Momentum still works for us Signers. Anything we touch, works again."

"No internet, though," Crow added.

Right. Internet would have been amazingly helpful, but Yugi supposed that the Signers' powers didn't extend that far.

"You're not wrong, everyone desperately needs transport. I'm frankly surprised they didn't hear you out," Mokuba said. He frowned at the radio.

"Yeah well, guess they're not desperate enough to take advice from a _Satelliter_ yet," Crow spit out. "Hah, wish I could see their faces when they see the minibus."

Jack chuckled. "Saiga fixed it?"

"Oh yeah."

"Minibus?" Manjoume-kun asked. "Don't tell me you actually have a working one?"

Jack leaned back against the table. "Not us. Martha does. Sucks to be Security right now, doesn't it? I'm sure Martha would've helped out if they'd asked nicely, but they just keep making life more difficult for themselves."

He and Crow had the same expressions of almost vindictive glee on their faces. Yugi exchanged a look with Anzu. Not that he didn't understand where they were coming from; Security could be amazingly unhelpful even to them, let alone these two boys. But did they really have time for this?

Mokuba sat down at his desk where the radio was still spewing updates, a constant background noise. "Security or not, we're going to need that bus and any vehicles you can make work," he said. Jack and Crow grimaced. Then Crow snorted.

"Yeah, I suppose you do, don't you? Fine. We'll ask Martha, she'll be able to coordinate everything. Might even be able to get you some more cars out of it. It's not like we ever had a lot of stuff running on Momentum in the first place. But you're paying for the gas."

Anzu smiled. "That's great! You said Momentum works for you. Do you think you'd be able to reactivate any reactors?"

"The building's reactor would've worked if they could," Tenjoin-san pointed out. "Looks like it's just small stuff."

Jack made an offended noise, but Tenjoin-san continued, undeterred. "We can work with that. Send you to help out with evacuation, get some ambulances running. The Red Cross is scrambling and Neo Domino Hospital is running on an emergency generator. How many of you can do all this?"

"Me, Jack, Yusei and Ruka." Crow cast a look out of the window. "And Aki, but she's not exactly here."

Four people who could get Momentum working at least for a little bit and hopefully a couple of fuel-based vehicles. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"Let's work with that," he said. "Mokuba-kun, if you could get in touch with the Red Cross and the fire brigade? Let's leave Security and the defense forces out of it for now. Jack-kun, Crow-kun, can you contact the people in Satellite?"

"Let Yusei do it," Jack said. "He's been chomping at the bit to get out of the house. They'll listen to him."

Yugi nodded. They had a course of action now. The order to evacuate the city had not been given yet, but if and when it came, they'd need every working vehicle at their disposal just to get as many people out of the blast radius as possible. The city was under siege. And to get out of it in one piece, they were going to need all the hands they could get.

 **oOoOo**

Yusei navigated his way through the streets of Neo Domino with more than a little frustration. He'd been hoping to get out of the house for weeks now, but this hadn't been the way he'd envisioned it: the Ark Cradle looming overhead and all of the streets blocked off by unmoving cars. Even Yusei-Go, not the biggest of D-Wheels by a long shot, was having trouble getting through.

He had a mission, though. He had been planning to use the morning to visit Neo Domino University, but Jack had called him around midnight of the previous night, asking whether he could get to Martha's and get Saiga to drive his bus over to the City. So he'd waited until morning, when the twins were awake, and then ushered them out of the house with a stern warning not to get in trouble. Whether they'd actually listen was anyone's guess.

It took him over an hour to make the otherwise twenty-minute trip to Daedalus Bridge. Fortunately, the bridge itself was less packed and Satellite itself was, as always, mostly car-free. The place had changed a lot since their confrontation with the Dark Signers, but signs of disrepair were still everywhere. Satellite was outdated. Its lack of widespread Momentum-based infrastructure was a disadvantage most of the time. Right now, it was a blessing.

Compared to the City, the streets were positively empty. What few cars there were had been parked neatly. Most of them ran on old-fashioned fuel. The few that did run on Momentum had been pushed out of the way. Yusei made it to Martha's place in record time. He parked Yusei-Go and took off his helmet, staring at the sky as he did. The Ark still took up the entire horizon, but it wasn't quite looming overhead the way it appeared to be in the City. Bruno was up there, and Aki. He'd been trying to reach both of them all morning, but either they didn't have any reception or they just weren't answering their phones.

It stung. Aki going off on her own without even telling them hurt. She had used her dragon to get up there. When had she gotten her psychic powers back? And why hadn't she told them? Even in the ensuing chaos after the last WRGP duel, there had still been time.

And Bruno… All throughout Yusei's spell of house arrest, they had been e-mailing and chatting back and forth. They had talked so much and not once had Bruno seen it fit to mention that they were planning something like this. He'd thought they were being honest with each other again. Yusei had been, keeping him updated on the information he'd gotten from Yugi-san and his friends. Clearly the sentiment hadn't been mutual.

He shook away the sting of betrayal for now and walked up to the familiar doors of Martha's home. He, Jack and Crow had spent a week last summer fixing up the place, including repainting the entire front of the building. It looked much better now than it had years ago. He knocked and heard stumbling inside the house, then the voices of kids and footsteps running towards the door.

"Yusei-niisan!"

"Hey Taka," Yusei said, grinning at the boy who'd made it to the door first. Behind him, several kids echoed Taka's greeting.

"What are you doing here? Is it about that thing in the sky? What's gonna happen? Is it gonna hurt us?"

"It won't, don't worry," Yusei said. Not that he was sure about that, but no need to cause a panic. And Bruno wouldn't go as far as to hurt actual kids, right? "I just need to speak to Martha for a bit. Is she around?"

"Where else would I be, you silly boy?" came a voice from the inside of the house, and Yusei grinned. Martha appeared in the hallway. "You three never call and never visit and then all of a sudden the world's in danger and there you are."

"Couldn't stay away," Yusei said. Martha stepped forward and he gave her a hug and a kiss. "I'm sorry, we were so busy with the WRGP—"

"Of course you were. Well, come in. Unless you want to catch a cold out there?"

Yusei refrained from mentioning that it was almost May and really quite warm. He stepped inside, the kids making room for him to pass through. Inside, he was accosted immediately by Hikari.

"Where's Crow-niisan? Aki-neesan was so great in the tournament, did you see? Why didn't you duel? You don't look sick."

Yusei smiled, even though the reminder of missing the tournament was painful. Hikari loved dueling. She'd make a great duelist one day. Assuming they got this mess cleared up first, of course.

"I'm feeling better now." He told Hikari. She squinted her eyes at him, clearly not satisfied, but Kokoro appeared at her left shoulder and tugged her away, babbling something about a bird she'd seen. Yusei looked over the heads of the curious children at Martha, who was watching him from the doorway.

"Go on and play," she told the kids. Her eyes shifted to the kitchen. Yusei got the hint and carefully made his way over. The voices of the kids died down and Martha followed a few minutes later.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Can't I just visit?"

Martha's unimpressed face was answer enough. Yusei let out a long sigh.

"The Ark, for starters," he said. Martha looked at the ceiling, as if she could see the massive structure through it.

"I'm guessing you know where it comes from."

Yusei nodded. It was no use hiding anything from Martha, so he started talking. He told her about the Ark Cradle, about how it had disabled anything working on Momentum. He told her about the disaster area the City had become. Martha scoffed at that last bit.

"I suppose that'll teach them," she muttered. Martha may have grown up in Domino before Zero Reverse, but she, like many Satellite inhabitants, had no love for the City that had failed to come to their aid after the disaster. Still, she threw another glance at the ceiling and then out of the window, where they could see the kids playing. "Is it dangerous?" she asked.

Yusei didn't reply immediately. As much as he wanted to believe Bruno wouldn't endanger them, the Ark Cradle clearly wasn't there just to look pretty. And it wasn't just Bruno up there, but Paradox and Yliaster and Z-one. "I believe it might be," he said reluctantly.

"Where are Jack and Crow?"

"They're in the City," Yusei said, glad to move away from the topic. "They're helping out there. That's why I came; everything they have runs on Momentum and apparently we Signers can power some of the vehicles, but it's not enough and they have a lot of people who are hurt. Does Saiga still have that bus?"

"Oh, so now they want help? Didn't bother to help us, did they?" Martha muttered. Yusei swallowed. It was a story she'd told them once they were old enough: how Martha, a medical student herself, had been left to fend for herself and any of the survivors she could find. How no one, not the defense forces, not the emergency services, not the fire brigade or the Red Cross or any medical personnel had ever bothered to set foot on Satellite to look for survivors and help them get back to the mainland. Yusei had never understood how they could have been so callous.

"Saiga still has the bus," Martha said, relieving Yusei of the need to answer. "We have a lot of vehicles that don't run on Momentum. Do you think it would help?"

"Very much so."

"All right. I'll get the word out to some people. I'm pretty sure we still have some portable power generators around the island as well. You'd do well to contact Ushio-san so Security doesn't stop us at the bridge."

Yusei nodded, happy to let Martha take charge. He knew he was well-liked around Satellite, but he'd also left the place to go live in the City. If you wanted to get anything done, Martha was your best bet. She knew everyone and had probably taken care of their kid's broken arm or paid for their next meal at some point.

"I'll let Crow and Jack know, they can probably contact Ushio-san and Mikage-san," he said, taking out his phone. "What can I do to help?"

The gleam in Martha's eyes told him everything he needed to know. Time to rally Satellite and help out the City for once. And as soon as that was settled, perhaps Yusei could finally get the answers about Momentum that he needed.

 **OOoOo**

How soon was too soon to take another painkiller? Mikage eyed the bottle on her desk. Everything was a complete mess. The directors had disappeared in thin air, Jaeger was nowhere to be found and the entire city was under attack from… yeah, from whoever was up there. They had tried to send out electric drones, but so far, none had been able to get past the defenses of the floating _thing_ in the sky, and now the special defense forces were clamouring for her to hand over command of the city to them. They'd already started shooting, despite her express orders to the contrary. The emergency services had reported casualties as a consequence.

She wasn't cut out for this. She'd started out as a secretary, for god's sake! She should never have been the one in charge of Neo Domino City! After Rex Goodwin had died and his entire mystical plan had unraveled, Mikage had feared for her job, but she'd been kept on. And now the former directors were gone. All of a sudden, she was the highest-ranking person in the entire place.

The radio crackled. With all phones down, that was their only viable method of communication. Mikage listened to the radio chatter with half an ear. Nothing that was intended for her, thankfully. She got up from her desk and walked over to the window. She wasn't even in Neo Domino City. She should be out there, on the ground, but the special defense forces had politely forced her to evacuate. "Can't have the acting director in the firing line," they'd said. Mikage scoffed. As if she didn't know this was a badly-concealed plot to get her out of the way so they could assume control of Neo Domino City.

At least Security, with Ushio-san at the head, were still following her orders. They'd been communicating on a private channel for the last few hours, but Ushio-san hadn't been able to find out anything more than what they already knew and Security had its hands full trying to keep the evacuating people calm. Not everyone was choosing to evacuate yet and the official order hadn't yet been given, but Mikage feared it wouldn't be much longer before she was forced to do so.

A knock on her door. Mikage sighed and massaged her forehead. "Enter!" she shouted.

One of the Security officers assigned to her opened the door. "Sagiri-san, Jack Atlas is here to see you,"

Well. Mikage quickly schooled her face into something resembling a smile. That was one person she definitely didn't mind seeing.

"Send him in," she said. The Security officer moved out of the way, letting in Atlas-sama and an older woman. Mikage smiled.

"Atlas-sama. What brings you here?" She cast a look at the woman, who was looking around her office with an intense look in her eyes. She'd never seen this woman before, but she presented an air of cold authority.

"Momentum's stopped working," Atlas-sama said. Mikage threw a significant glance around her office, devoid of any kind of electronics except for the crackling radio. The woman sighed and stepped forward.

"Mikage-san, a pleasure. I am Tenjoin Asuka, here on behalf of Kaiba Mokuba," she said. Ugh. As if she didn't have enough trouble already without Kaiba Corp. getting involved. "Without Momentum, this city is crippled. We have been keeping an eye on the situation for a very long time. You need help."

"I am aware of the situation, Tenjoin-san," Mikage said with a weary sigh. "Neo Domino University's physics department is working day and night to come up with a solution, but so far they've found nothing."

NDU was just as crippled as the rest of the city. Without their computers, the work took ten times as long.

"We can get Momentum working," Atlas-sama said. Mikage looked up.

"Really?"

But neither Tenjoin-san nor Atlas-sama looked as happy as a revelation like that would warrant. Atlas-sama looked almost… annoyed?

"It only works for Signers and only when we're present," Atlas-sama said.

"I'm led to believe that Atlas-kun and his friends already proposed this solution to your Security officers, but were rebuffed," Tenjoin-san said.

Oh for crying out loud, was there no one competent in this city anymore?

"That is why we wanted to run this by you first, preferably without anyone from the special defense forces or Security around."

Understandable. Mikage looked at Atlas-sama, who stepped forward decisively. "Satellite," he said.

"Satellite?"

Atlas-sama nodded. "Half of our stuff never worked on Momentum. We've got fuel-based cars and even fuel to go with it. Saiga has a bus he's driving to the City right now, but there's so much more. Yusei's already talked to Martha. We know what it's like to live through a blackout." His tone got harsher. "We know how to deal with this, you don't. So if you get your heads out of your asses and let us help—"

Mikage held up a hand to cut him off. "I understand. You're right."

Atlas-sama looked flummoxed, as if he'd been gearing up for a bigger fight. But why would she protest? He was right and she was a fool for not having thought of it before. Satellite, through circumstances she carried too much responsibility for to ever be entirely comfortable with, knew exactly how to deal with a situation like this. "You said Yusei-kun's been talking to Martha-san. Will she be able to provide assistance?"

Mikage liked Martha-san. The woman always carried an air of calm confidence about her, something Mikage would like to be able to emulate one day. And whereas crime rates were still high around Satellite, even after the Daedalus Bridge had been built, Martha-san's house had always been left alone. She held the trust and confidence of nearly everyone in Satellite. If she was involved, that gave Mikage a lot of confidence when it came to the success of this plan.

"She has said she will rally the people of Satellite and convince them to help out."

"Good." Mikage thought for a second. "Can I contact her?"

"What channel are you on? Yusei's with her, I'll send him the radio frequency."

Mikage did so, and Jack quickly sent a text. Ugh, Signers and their working phones. She looked at Tenjoin-san.

"Can I assume that we will have Kaiba Corp's support in this?"

"Yes, and the Manjoume Group's," Tenjoin-san said with a faintly approving smile. "Although I cannot guarantee that they will be a lot of help. The companies are as crippled as the rest of us."

Mikage would take literally anything that could help right now. "Would it help to send Ushio-san to Satellite to coordinate efforts?" she asked Atlas-sama.

Atlas-sama shook his head, not looking up from his phone. "Don't. Satellite doesn't like Security. People'll listen to Martha."

A year ago, when the Daedalus Bridge had been built and the time had come to elect a new city government, she and Ushio-san had gone to Satellite and asked Martha-san to run for representative in the council. Mikage was convinced she would have won the position by a landslide on the strength of Satellite's votes alone, but Martha-san had refused. She had said she was perfectly content with the life she led now, that she didn't care to get involved with the politics of Neo Domino City, and that no amount of begging would change her mind. To this day, Mikage regretted it. She could have used the woman's input a hundred times over throughout all the council meetings she'd had to preside over whenever the directors had disappeared again.

So if Martha-san was getting involved with this? If Satellite was willing to come to the City's aid when they needed it the most?

"Tell me what you need. We'll get it there."

* * *

 _I had to cut some of my favorite characters out of this chapter so I hope y'all appreciate the things I do for this story._

 _ **Next chapter:** Mizoguchi goes jogging._


	21. XVIII - Supernova

**XVIII. Supernova**

Yusei arrived at Neo Domino University to find the place in complete chaos. The physics lab was bustling with activity, but no one so much as spared him a second glance. Eventually, after standing around for over an hour and mentioning his parents with increasing insistence, someone found Hayashi-san for him. The woman looked a lot less jovial than the last time they'd spoken.

"Yusei-kun, I'm terribly sorry, I can't spare more than a minute or two. We're trying to find a way to disable the Momentum Reactor, but it just keeps going."

Yusei cast a significant glance at the barely lit-up building. NDU was running on emergency power. Hayashi-san chuckled.

"The reactor still works, did no one tell you that? It's just not powering anything. But that kind of energy buildup…"

That was news to Yusei. He swallowed. "I want to help."

Hayashi-san grimaced. "Any other day and we'd love having you around. But right now we just can't spare the people to get you up-to-date…" she frowned, deep in thought. "Actually, there's one thing you can do to help. Your D-Wheel still works?"

Yusei didn't ask how she knew. His D-Wheel had astounded everyone he'd seen so far.

"Momentum Express is one of our partners when it comes to Momentum research. They've been sponsoring a lot of the present-day research and they know as much, if not more about Momentum than we do." Hayashi-san glanced around. "They've told us that they know nothing more about what's going on, but I fear their chairman hasn't been honest with us for a long time."

"You want me to check it out."

"Your name carries a lot of weight, Yusei-kun, whether you like it or not. We're stuck here and any new information would be very beneficial."

Yusei sighed. He didn't like these games, but there was very little around the City for him to do, now that Martha and Mikage had everything firmly in hand. And he'd still get to learn more about what was going on.

"Okay, I'll do it. How am I gonna get in?"

Hayashi-san smiled brilliantly. "Give me five minutes. I'll write you a letter."

—

Momentum Express was still standing. More than that, it was still operational. Yusei came to a stop outside the heavy iron gates and spent a few seconds just staring. The facility was bustling with life, trucks driving on and off and people walking briskly from one building to the next. Yusei looked back at the city he'd just come from. The Ark Cradle was hovering ominously in plain sight, even from this far away. Bruno was on there. Aki was on there. And Yusei was either getting them off or getting on it himself.

He had expected to have a hard time getting in, but Hayashi-san's words had to carry some serious clout, because after presenting the letter, he'd been waved through without so much as a cursory glance at his ID. He even got to bring Yusei-Go inside.

"Fudou-san, right this way," said a security guard when he passed through the main entrance. He left his D-Wheel next to the big doors of the main building and followed the man inside, through glass sliding doors showing off the logo of Momentum Express. This place had a lot of money to spare. If Yusei hadn't known that it had been built not long after Zero Reverse, he would've guessed it wasn't older than a year. It seemed like Hayashi-san had been onto something.

"The chairman would like to speak to you," the security guard said as he called up the elevator. "He requested a meeting personally, but if you would rather go see our main labs first, I can take you there now."

The chairman wanted to speak to him? Urgently, no less? "No, I'll talk to him," Yusei said. He had expected a few welcome words, perhaps a perfunctory tour, but this sounded more serious than a mere greeting. Already Momentum Express was proving to hide secrets. He hoped he wouldn't have to get involved too deeply to find the answers Hayashi-san wanted. He did have more pressing things to worry about.

The elevator took them up to the fifth floor and opened to a long hallway lined with offices. The security guard scanned his badge, then made Yusei scan his visitor's badge, and finally knocked on a door almost all the way at the end.

"Sir? Fudou Yusei has arrived."

"Please come in."

The security guard nodded at Yusei and gave him thumbs up before leaving. Yusei pushed open the door and entered in a well-lit office, just as modern as the rest of the building had been. Seriously, where did these people get their money?

"Fudou Yusei?" Behind the desk, a man got up. "My name is Clark. I am the chairman of Momentum Express. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Yusei shook his hand briefly. Clark looked like a man who was used to having money. His suit was neatly tailored and his glasses had probably cost more than Yusei had ever earned in his life. And still… Yusei narrowed his eyes. Clark's handshake wasn't as steady as Yusei had expected from someone in his position, and his already pale face looked almost pallid. More than anything, he looked like he needed a good night's sleep and hadn't had the chance in a while. At least there, Yusei could sympathize.

"Fudou-san, I'm so glad to see you here," he said. "Horrible business with the Ark Cradle in Neo Domino City. Has there been any resolution?"

Yusei grimaced. "Not yet. What did you want to talk to me about?"

'Yes, well," Clark took off his glasses and polished them, "I was of course very glad to hear you had shown interest in Momentum Express. The son of the Fudous… It is an honor."

Yusei raised an eyebrow. "Could you get to the point, please?"

"Of course, of course…" Clark sat down heavily and pushed his glasses back onto his nose. "I suppose I ought to be frank with you. My employers have vanished when the Ark Cradle appeared. Momentum Express is teetering on the brink of collapse."

"It seemed fine when I came in," Yusei said. Yeah, the scientists and employees had looked harried, but wasn't that to be expected, with the Ark Cradle taking up the entire horizon?

"Most of my employees aren't aware of the situation." Clark rested his chin on his hands. "Only a few of my most trusted advisors know. But Momentum Express houses dangerous experiments, Fudou Yusei."

"Why are you telling me this?" Yusei didn't like where this was going. He discreetly checked his deck. Still where it was supposed to be. Good.

"My employers were… interested in you. They were adamant their identity remain a secret, however, and I would have kept that secret to my grave, if it weren't for…" He glanced out of the window. It gave them a clear view on the Ark Cradle in the distance.

"In me?" Wait a minute, employers who vanished when the Ark appeared? "You worked for Yliaster?"

Clark lowered his eyes. "I'm afraid you are correct, yes. Yliaster… I only ever communicated with them via conference call, but they were very invested in the projects Momentum Express runs. They wanted to create a… Dimensional gateway, I suppose I should call it. An easy way to travel between a given set of coordinates."

"Four-dimensional?"

"Yes. I see I don't need to explain it to you, Fudou-san."

Of course Yliaster had continued experimenting with time travel beyond what they already had. Paradox had only been able to transport himself and his D-Wheel through time. Had they planned to create a bigger system, a way to transfer more material and bigger things to any given point in time? Given the Ark Cradle, had they already succeeded?

Yusei got up from his chair. "How was their system powered? Show me."

"Yes, yes, of course…" Clark almost sounded relieved at finally being able to tell someone. "Their initial systems ran on Momentum, but they seemed adamant about finding another way. The work of professor Zweinstein led us to creating a method that functioned on the energy released by duelists, but even then, they weren't satisfied. Too close to Momentum, they said."

Duel energy… So that was how they had summoned the Ark. And that final duel, with so many high-powered monsters summoned, had been the last straw. The very last bit of energy they had needed to summon the Ark. If Aki hadn't summoned Efflorescent Rose Dragon… But no. Yusei shook his head. If she hadn't summoned it, the appearance of the Ark would have merely been delayed, not negated altogether. It would have appeared regardless.

Clark didn't explain anything else until they had reached the basement and a heavily-secured lab. Just entering it alone required a biometric scan and passcode. Even so… Yusei studied the door as it closed behind them. A door was only as strong as its strongest hinges. And these? Not very strong. Someone had been pocketing money.

"Here we are," Clark announced with a flourish. The lab, Yusei had to admit, was breathtaking. On any other day, he would have been happy to just while away his time right here. "We have the targeting system in here. Beyond the glass is the launch bay. We set the coordinates here, and the ship should take the cargo to wherever it needs to be."

"How do you set the coordinates?" Yusei studied the computers. They were sophisticated, yes, but could they actually handle steering a ship through time?

"Ah." Clark ran a hand over the nearest panel. "Well, that's been a bit of an issue. It's very hit-or-miss, you see? Even if we set the coordinates, most of the time, our ships don't make it. And of course, we can only test for the near future. We set the coordinates five minutes from now, in the other landing bay, and hope it appears there after five minutes… It usually doesn't."

That was disappointing. Yusei carefully looked the system over. "And people?"

"Oh no, we've never tried it with people!" Clark said quickly. Too quickly. "If we can't even get a ship on autopilot back safe and sound, what chance is there for a person? Now Yliaster… They had something that guaranteed arrival. They claimed they could see everything that went on in time. Well, they sure always knew when we'd lost another ship."

So Yliaster was monitoring the time stream… A plan was starting to form. It was a terrible, terrible plan, and if any of his friends found out about it, they'd probably lock him up and never let him leave the house again. They might not be wrong for doing so. But Yusei had to get up there, on the Ark. He just needed to make sure of a few more things.

"What do you know about Yliaster?"

Clark threw an anxious look over his shoulder, as if even in here, he was afraid of being monitored. Maybe it wasn't an ungrounded fear. "I only ever spoke to three of them, but I think there were more members than that. They spoke of their own leader once or twice, I believe."

"The three you spoke to were Team New World?" Not that Yusei needed to ask, so Clark's affirming nod was nowhere near a surprise. "Right. What do you know about their leader?"

Clark shrugged. "Only that he exists." The basement had no windows, obviously, but his look upwards was hard to miss. "I suppose he's responsible for the Ark Cradle too… He was the one who was so interested in you."

"Their leader?" One more point for his hunch. It wasn't a hunch Yusei particularly liked.

"Yes. I remember the youngest one… Lucciano. He complained about it at some point."

So it was Z-one, not Team New World, who was so interested in him. Yusei nodded. Clark probably took it as a reply to his words, for he hastened to say: "I don't know why they were so interested. I am sorry we never alerted you, but—"

Yusei waved a hand. "No need. Thank you for the tour, it has been very enlightening." He glanced at the controls. "Do you think I could do some research in here? I'll be out of your hair before you know it."

"You're leaving? But—" Again that anxious look. Yusei forced a smile.

"I do have an Ark to stop, right? I just need to do some research before I can, and I think your installation here might provide the key."

"Oh! Right, yes, of course." Clark's relief was almost palpable and his follow-up smile made Yusei grit his teeth. He really didn't want to spend any more time in this guy's company than absolutely necessary. "Yes, I will see to it that you have your visitor's badge expanded. It will grant you access to all the basement labs. Just don't forget to scan it when you enter."

"Thank you." Yusei followed Clark out of the lab with one last look at the targeting system. The beginnings of a plan were starting to form. First he'd report his findings to Hayashi-san. He doubted NDU would find much use out of the info; Yliaster had already taken themselves out of the equation and Momentum Express' funds would dry up soon enough. But at least no one would be able to say he hadn't tried.

It shouldn't take him much more than half an hour to relay that particular message. And then… Then he was going to need a map, some very good coordinates and a lot of faith.

 **oOoOo**

Mizoguchi Matsuyama had seen many things in his life, but massive buildings hanging in the sky were new to him. And Sherry was up there. He'd thought he could let her go. They had been apart for much longer than this in the past; three days was nothing. But it had been three days without a single sign of life. He had watched Sherry's flight with the Izayoi girl. He had almost panicked when the Ark Cradle had attacked them. But they had made it. And ever since then…. Nothing.

He had enough confidence in Paradox and Bruno to believe they wouldn't actually harm Sherry, but what about their allies? Because they had to have allies. Paradox and Bruno hadn't made the Ark appear—The way the both of them had run off without forethought was enough evidence of that. Yliaster was still part of the mix. And what was to say that they wouldn't want to finish the job and kill the last remaining Leblanc?

He would have been able to keep waiting if the defense forces hadn't started shooting at the Ark. But they had. And that was a danger Sherry couldn't protect herself from. She needed to get out of there. It had been Mizoguchi's duty to protect her at all costs. She had never been so close to danger and he wasn't there with her. He couldn't let it stand.

Sherry had told him what had happened after she had used the Z-ONE card. How it had transported her to a weird realm along with Yusei and Bruno, where they'd encountered a… creature? Robot? Mizoguchi studied the Z-ONE card. It was entirely unassuming and had always been. But Bruno and Paradox had told them about its true purpose. A calling card. It could take him to the Ark Cradle if only he could figure out a way to use it.

They had been in Security when Sherry had used the card, but Security had become the headquarters of the national defense forces. Getting in there unnoticed was a futile undertaking. There had to be another place that had the processing power necessary to create the same effect.

He briefly considered Neo Domino University but dismissed it out of hand. Like many public places within the city itself, the building was beset by people and not functioning at all. He had to get out of the city. The answer came to him while he was staring up at the sky come evening. The sky was getting darker, but since the Ark Cradle had blocked out most of the sun all day anyway, it wasn't that much of a change.

Momentum Express. It had been on their list before Bruno and Paradox had come crashing into their lives and had provided them with a bigger distraction. The research facility hid all kinds of secrets, and they had been dying to figure out what they were. It was several kilometers removed from the city, but not so far that he couldn't make it there with a brisk run within the next hour or two if he didn't encounter any roadblocks. And he'd bet anything that like Neo Domino Hospital, the facility had its own power generator that would be up and running even without Momentum.

Getting in there would prove to be another challenge, but the presence of the national defense forces would be less there. So Mizoguchi left at seven and, as he'd hoped, made it to the facility by nine. It would have been a far shorter journey if he'd been able to use his D-Wheel, but no use crying over spilled milk.

Momentum Express was not as abandoned as he'd hoped. On the other hand, the gates were wide open and the CCTV system had clearly been declared non-essential, because a few minutes of observation showed that the cameras were completely inactive. He entered with relatively few difficulties and made his way through the largely abandoned hallways. While Momentum Express wasn't deserted, it was clearly functioning at minimum capacity. Now he just had to find the right kind of installation to use the Z-ONE card Sherry had entrusted him with.

He was making his way past what looked like a shuttle bay when he paused and listened. There was someone else making their way through the building very slowly and carefully. Their footsteps weren't at all like the quick and harried footsteps of the people on the upper floor. This person was sneaking. Mizoguchi ducked in another hallway that gave out on the shuttle bay and waited, duel disk at the ready just in case.

Fudou Yusei came into view.

Mizoguchi frowned. According to the latest news he'd been able to get, Fudou Yusei had been helping to get the city going again, his Signer powers apparently well-suited to the task. He should be in Neo Domino City, not here, twenty kilometers away. What was Yusei doing at Momentum Express? And why was he sneaking around?

Only one way to find out. Somehow Mizoguchi was fairly certain that Yusei wasn't going to rat him out.

"Good evening," he said, stepping out of the hallway as Yusei passed it. Yusei visibly started, duel disk already raised by the time he took in Mizoguchi, but he composed himself quickly.

"Good evening," he returned. "I take it you're here to find a way to get up to the Ark?"

"Yes." Very little use in denying that, given that Yusei was doing the exact same thing. He looked at the shuttles. "What are these? Will they help?"

Yusei hesitated. "Maybe. I have a theory."

Mizoguchi raised his eyebrows, but Yusei didn't elaborate. "How about you?" he asked instead.

Mizoguchi took Sherry's Z-ONE card out of his pocket. Yusei's eyes widened when he saw it.

"Is that Sherry's card?" he asked. "How come you have it? Do you think we can use it?"

"Milady entrusted me with it before she left. I am hoping to activate it."

Yusei nodded and looked back at the shuttles. "I talked to the owner of Momentum Express earlier today. They're using those shuttles for time travel experiments. They've been working with Yliaster."

Of course Yliaster had its hands in this as well. He eyed the shuttles with more than a little distrust. Time travel? Bruno's D-Wheel had been capable of it and presumably Paradox's new D-Wheel could do the same. He'd never heard them talk about shuttles. That alone was strange enough. "Do they work?" he asked.

"… No. Not reliably."

Mizoguchi pocketed the card again. "And yet you plan on using them."

"Look, it's not like I have a lot of other options, do I?" Yusei said, shoulders pulled up defensively. "Aki was the only one of us who could summon monsters and she took the first chance she got to leave us all behind! I have to get up there! Bruno and Aki are up there! I need to stop this!"

He took several deep breaths after that particular outburst. "How'd Sherry get there anyway?"

"You don't know?" Mizoguchi resumed walking again. There had to be a computer here somewhere. "Izayoi-san took her."

"She _what_?"

Mizoguchi could almost read Yusei's mind: Why had Izayoi-san taken the time to come find Sherry but refused to take her friends with her? She had known more about the Ark Cradle than Yusei seemed to. It appeared the girl had had a very good reason to come find Sherry first.

"Perhaps you need to ask her yourself when we get up there," he said.

"'We'?"

They continued to trek down the hallway. In the distance, the shuttle bay appeared. "You want to go up to the Ark Cradle. So do I. It seems pointless to continue our separate ways when we share a common goal. We will be far more equipped to deal with anything we encounter if we work together."

"Fair enough."

They reached the shuttle bay after a scant few minutes. Yusei entered immediately. Mizoguchi tried to stop him lest he set off any alarms, but Yusei just smiled and held up a key card.

"Conned them into giving me one earlier," he said. "Saving the city pays off sometimes."

Clever. Mizoguchi followed him in. The computers here might work fine, if only they had the kind of card reader that would be able to accept the Z-ONE card.

"In here." Yusei opened one of the shuttles. "These will accept the card."

Mizoguchi frowned. "How do you know?"

"Yliaster wanted it made. The card has to do with Z-one."

And as Yusei had predicted, the exact kind of card reader that would fit the Z-ONE card perfectly was front and center in the shuttle. Mizoguchi took it out and made to place it there as Yusei started up the system, but he paused.

"So what exactly was your original plan?"

Yusei looked up, almost embarrassed. "I was going to activate the shuttle and send it into the aether."

"And then?"

"… I'm pretty sure Yliaster is watching me. They would have noticed. Bruno would've come get me."

Good to know Bruno's crush wasn't one-sided. But to base an entire plan on that?

Yusei looked away. "Look, I know it's stupid but I don't exactly have a lot of options here. Perhaps the Z-ONE card will be able to get us to the right place more easily."

That was distinctly possible. Mizoguchi studied the card. "We activate the shuttle and then use the card. Is that your plan?"

"It seems the best option. The shuttle can set four-dimensional coordinates. I have the coordinates of the Ark"

Mizoguchi had to agree, albeit very reluctantly. From what Sherry had told him of the first time she had used the card, she had ended up in some kind of void. Not the Ark Cradle. Perhaps the card alone wouldn't be enough.

"All right. Activate it."

Yusei went to work, inputting coordinates and activating systems while Mizoguchi kept a close watch on the hallways outside. Outside of the shuttle, everything was dark. Perhaps the shuttle was only working because of Yusei's presence, just like he'd been helping with keeping the city going. As long as no one noticed the unusual activity down here, they would be ready to go by ten.

"Almost ready for launch," Yusei said. "I've set it on a timer. We have about five minutes to get on board and do all the necessary checks."

That should be more than enough. Mizoguchi followed Yusei onto the shuttle after making sure the doors of the bay were securely locked. If someone tried to stop them now, they wouldn't have enough time to get through. Yusei was running system checks on the board computer, the screens flashing by too quickly even for Mizoguchi to follow. He was no slouch when it came to computers, but Yusei's prowess with them clearly wasn't exaggerated.

"Ready," he said as the shuttle came to life. "Use the card."

Mizoguchi took the Z-ONE card. He put it in place as the shuttle started moving and waited for it to activate.

Nothing happened.

"Is that how it happened last time?" he asked. Yusei shook his head, face pulled in a frown. He fiddled with his phone. "No. Hold on."

He stepped forward and snatched the card back. The shuttle picked up speed. It was nearing the end of the tunnel.

"Hurry it up, please!"

"Right!" Yusei slammed the card back into place just as the end of the tunnel rushed up to them. The computer fritzed out. Bright white light emanated from the console and both he and Yusei shielded themselves; the light covered Yusei and seemed to peter out there, but Yusei grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, into the light. For a moment, Mizoguchi felt nothing. Then the light cleared up. They were still in the shuttle. Yusei was still holding his arm.

"Don't let go," he said. "The card doesn't work for you."

Yes, Paradox and Bruno had been very clear on that matter: it wouldn't work for anyone who hadn't been part of their gang. Mizoguchi looked down at Yusei with narrowed eyes. "Why does it work for you?"

"Later," Yusei said, looking outside. There was nothing. Just a void. The shuttle was still running, still hurtling towards some unknown location. How were they going to reach the Ark?

"They'll find us," Yusei said confidently. Mizoguchi raised an eyebrow. Yusei held up his phone and the message history displayed on it.

Mizoguchi smiled.

"Yes, they will."

 **OOoOo**

Antinomy and Aki's phones went off at the same time, signaling an incoming text message. They both looked up, glanced at each other and read the message. Aki frowned.

"What does he mean by that?" she muttered.

Paradox honestly didn't feel like getting involved, but Antinomy's eyes had widened when reading the message. "What's it say?" he asked.

"'Watch us'," Antinomy quoted.

"It's from Yusei," Aki added. "I got the same one. What does that even mean, 'Watch us'? Who's us? And we can't exactly watch anyone from up here, can we?"

"Of course we can," said Plácido with a sneer. "Did you really think we did not keep track of you all this time? In fact, Fudou Yusei is—" He didn't finish that sentence. Antinomy got up.

"What is he doing?"

Lucciano giggled. "He's at Momentum Express with her bodyguard." He threw out a hand towards Sherry. "So much for helping the city, eh?"

Mizoguchi? Mizoguchi was at Momentum Express with Fudou Yusei? Against his better judgment, Paradox got up as well. Sherry pulled herself up into a sitting position, mouthing, "Mizoguchi?"

"They're… Accessing the transport system," Z-one said. He sounded as confused as the rest of them. "The system isn't fully functional yet. Why would they do that?"

Antinomy's eyes widened into something like horrified realization. "He wouldn't…" he muttered. "He can't be that stupid…" He exchanged looks with Z-one, who looked equally horrified. "No. Yusei!"

"What's he doing?!" Aki shouted.

"Launching himself into the time stream! Those things aren't stable, he'll die in there!"

Paradox glanced at Z-one. Oh, shit. Damn Fudou Yusei for putting them on the spot like that. Antinomy took off running, followed by Aki. He skidded to a halt next to his D-Wheel, slapped the Z-ONE card onto the still-activating duel disk, and jumped on. "I'm getting him out!"

"No, wait!" Z-one raised a massive hand. Antinomy barely paused, engine already revving up.

"No time! Z-one, please."

"No. They will be okay." Z-one looked at Sherry. "Your bodyguard was smart. The Z-ONE card will bring them here with just a little nudge." He closed his eyes. For a second, silence permeated the entire Ark. Then the entire building shook with the sound of a crash.

"Yusei!" Antinomy and Aki shouted, voices overlapping with Sherry's, "Mizoguchi!" The three of them sprinted towards the exit. Paradox made to follow but was stopped by Lucciano's voice.

"Ugh, why do all of you get so invested in these people?"

"Lucciano," José said warningly, but Plácido joined his younger counterpart.

"For once, I agree. Why should we care about Fudou Yusei anyway? Let alone some random idiot who's probably gonna die anyway."

Paradox took a deep breath. Aporia didn't know, he reminded himself. If it hadn't been for Z-one, Paradox would have reacted the same way Plácido did now. But they couldn't have Fudou Yusei die. It would have been tremendously bad if he did and it'd be a mess to clean up. And Mizoguchi? … It was stupid. He should not care about stupid things like this. But Mizoguchi had taken care of them. He'd made them dinner.

"We cannot lose Fudou Yusei," said Z-one, relieving Paradox of the need to answer. He seemed okay, at least, so that meant the idiot was still alive in there, wherever he was. He leaned back against a wall. They'd be fine. Mizoguchi would be fine.

One tense minute passed, then two, then three, without a sign of anyone. Paradox resisted the urge to go after Sherry and Antinomy. If they needed help, they'd let them know. They had no idea what damage the crashed shuttle had caused. The fewer people around, the better.

"I don't get what the big deal is."

Paradox looked up. He hadn't heard Plácido approach, but Aporia's middle form now slumped down next to him.

"Bad things happen when Fudou Yusei dies," he muttered. "It happened once, you remember that. We had to rush to undo it." He glanced at Z-one as he said it. Plácido followed his stare.

"I don't get it. It shouldn't affect anything."

This wasn't the time nor the place. Paradox shook his head. "I'll tell you later, just…" They hadn't told Aporia in all these years because it just hadn't mattered. Z-one was Z-one. That's all they cared about.

Antinomy, Sherry and Aki finally reappeared, followed by Mizoguchi and Yusei. Anger radiated out of every line of their bodies. Mizoguchi and Yusei looked rather cowed in comparison.

"They've lost their minds!" Aki announced to the room at large. She turned on Yusei and Yusei winced. "What the hell were you trying to accomplish by doing something as _stupid—"_

"Inane," Antinomy added in a low growl.

"—Suicidal as that?"

Yusei just groaned, eyes still closed. "Please, I've got a headache. Besides, you ran off too."

"I didn't jump into the time stream and tried to get myself killed!"

Debatable on that last part, Paradox thought, but Sherry had just stopped being angry with him. He didn't want to bring that up again.

"I made it out fine, didn't I?" Yusei said. Both Aki and Antinomy looked about two seconds away from hitting him.

"Don't you _ever_ do anything like that again, Fudou Yusei," Aki hissed. Antinomy glared down at Yusei.

"Whatever made you think doing that was a good idea? You would've died in there, Yusei."

"No, I wouldn't have," Yusei said simply. "I knew you'd come get me if anything went wrong."

That stumped Antinomy. He floundered, and Paradox groaned. Sherry grimaced and turned to Mizoguchi.

"You shouldn't have come," she said. Mizoguchi looked down at her steadily.

"It was for my own peace of mind."

Sherry looked like she wanted to say more, but perhaps she'd realized that going off on Mizoguchi like Antinomy and Aki had on Yusei would accomplish nothing. Or, more likely, she was just as relieved to see Mizoguchi as Mizoguchi was to see her.

"Fudou Yusei," said Z-one. Yusei opened his eyes, suddenly alert. He narrowed them when he saw Z-one. What did Yusei know? How much had he found out? "This was a very irresponsible thing to do."

"I know." Yusei looked around the room, eyes passing over all of them and lingering on Aki and Antinomy. "That seems to be a theme right now, doesn't it?"

Wow, Fudou Yusei could actually do emotion that wasn't self-righteousness? Color him surprised. "So you're up here now, congratulations," Paradox said. "What are you planning now? Did you actually think about that?"

"Have you come to stop us, Fudou Yusei?" Z-one asked. Aporia's three forms immediately closed rank. Even Antinomy, Paradox noticed, was inching towards his duel disk. At least he wasn't that attached to Yusei yet.

Yusei grimaced. "I came to offer my help," he said after a few seconds. "Me and Mizoguchi both. This… This doesn't have to be a fight, okay?" He gestured at the Ark all around them. "I've offered before and I'll do it again: I want to help. I'm not convinced what you're doing here is the best way, but I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"You don't know what led to this, Fudou Yusei," Z-one said.

"Then tell me! No one is telling me anything."

Aki cringed. Paradox groaned. What could they tell him that wouldn't trigger immediate denial? This was exactly why Fudou Yusei should have never come here.

Aki's phone started ringing, sparing them from having to answer. She glanced at the screen, raised an eyebrow, and answered the call. "Yes. Yeah, he's here… Yes, okay, we'll talk later." She held out the phone to Yusei. "That's for you."

Yusei accepted the phone gingerly. "Hello?"

Indistinct shouting on the other side. Yusei sighed. "Crow, yes, I know, I—"

They spent a good five minutes listening as Crow and Jack alternated shouting at Yusei over the phone. Paradox shrugged and Aporia's middle form sat down on the ground and watched with his head resting on his arms. Hey, good entertainment was good entertainment, and that was hard to come by here on the Ark. Yusei finally reassured them one last time that he was fine and that he'd get back as soon as he could. He closed the phone and handed it back to Aki.

"Just so you know," Antinomy muttered, "if they're the next to jump in, I'm not going to pick them up."

No one believed him.

"They won't," Yusei said. "They promised. Besides, I, uh, think we may have blown up the system."

"I can confirm that," said José. "That system cost us a lot of money, Fudou Yusei."

Yusei didn't look at all repentant. "So what now?" he asked. "What are you planning?"

They all looked at Z-one. Z-one didn't say anything. He floated to the central column in the middle of the room and activated the inner system.

"For now, we wait. You have already done a good job helping the city, Fudou Yusei. Let us hope your presence here will not impede that."

 **oOoOo**

Sherry hadn't expected it to be so much of a relief to see Mizoguchi again. After all, they'd only been separated for two days. They had been apart for much longer than that. But she was completely out of her depth here, even with Aki with her and Paradox and Bruno surprisingly welcoming after their initial entrance. Yliaster had shown up shortly afterwards. She had not interacted with them.

For so long, she'd wondered what she would do when she finally met the people who had killed her parents and destroyed her life. She'd constructed elaborate revenge fantasies. She'd thought of speeches. But now that she was finally face-to-face with them, there was only one question left in her mind: _Why?_

And she hadn't been able to bring herself to ask it. Sherry Leblanc, fearless and reckless as she was, was terrified.

So when Mizoguchi showed up, it was like the world realigned itself again. Because every time she'd imagined this confrontation, Mizoguchi had been right next to her. Now he was. Now she could ask.

It made no sense to put off this confrontation. When Mizoguchi and Yusei had settled in, she gestured for Mizoguchi to join her. He understood immediately. He found her very own Z-ONE card and handed it to her, then briefly put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Sherry swallowed and shifted her stance. Then she took a deep breath and walked forward. Paradox and Bruno looked up when she passed and followed her gaze towards the group of people that constituted Yliaster. They got up as well, something panicky in their gaze. Sherry refused to wait for them. In the end, they hadn't helped her at all.

"Yliaster!" she called. The two men and the child looked up. Immediately, Lucciano's eyes turned mocking. Plácido cast her an unimpressed look. José just went back to what he'd been doing. Sherry almost felt like stomping her foot. But no. She would not lose this battle before it had even begun.

"The lady wishes to talk to you," Mizoguchi said, stone-faced. Aki and Yusei had gotten up as well and wandered closer. Lucciano looked her over.

"Oh, does she?" he said, followed by a shrill giggle. Sherry breathed in. She widened her stance.

"I do. Why did you kill my parents?"

"You're still hung up on that?" Plácido said. "It was ages ago. Get over it."

She wouldn't scream. She was better than this. "Tell me. Now."

"Or what?"

"Aporia, please," Paradox cut in. "She has the right to know. She doesn't understand." He cast a look at Sherry, then at Bruno and then back to Yliaster. " _We_ don't understand."

José finally looked up. "It is not like you to question our actions," he said slowly.

"You may have had a good reason. We only want to know it."

"As do I," came another voice, slow and deep. Z-one, or whatever he was called, had joined the conversation. That must have done it. Plácido gave her a mocking smile.

"Your parents were in the way, miss Leblanc. Simple as that. Their research was detrimental to our plans and they asked too many questions, so we did away with them."

"You could've just destroyed the research," Paradox said, tone measured. Yusei scoffed.

"You're one to talk."

Z-one held up a massive robotic hand before the conflict could escalate. "Please. I understand, Aporia, but Paradox is also right. It hardly warranted unnecessary killing."

Plácido shrugged, clearly unbothered. Sherry was left floundering. That was it? Her parents' research had been in their way, so they'd been eliminated? Just like that? But then—

"Perhaps," Mizoguchi spoke up, tone carefully measured, "you could explain something to me."

"And what might that be?"

"I was present on the day that Mr. and Mrs. Leblanc were killed. When I fled with the lady, the invaders were looking for the Z-ONE card the lady has in her possession. We have learned since then that you have the very same card in your possession." Paradox and Bruno nodded minutely. Yusei and Aki looked confused. "If this is the case, then why did you need milady's card?"

"We didn't need it!" Plácido spat. "That little thief should never have had it in the first place!"

He looked at Z-one for confirmation, but Z-one looked at her in surprise. His expression was mirrored on Paradox and Bruno's faces.

"Thief?" Bruno asked.

"You should know, Antinomy!" Plácido said. "You were there, and him too!" He pointed at Yusei. "She has the card! No one but us should have the card! She stole it or her parents stole it and we couldn't let that go!"

"I didn't steal anything!" she shouted. Were they talking about the time she, Yusei and Bruno had seen Z-one for the very first time? But what did that have to do with her parents' deaths?

"Oh no," Bruno whispered. "Paradox, does Aporia know—?"

Paradox eyes widened. " _Fuck_ ," he breathed.

Sherry refused to ask them what that was about. She kept her eyes trained on Yliaster. They thought she'd stolen the card? She hadn't.

"Aporia," Z-one said gently. All of Yliaster immediately ignored her and turned towards him. "Do you know Sherry Leblanc?"

Lucciano gestured. "'s her right there, isn't it? Unless there's another one?"

Paradox and Bruno winced simultaneously.

"She did not steal the card. I gave it to her in order to save her life. The card was created for her."

 _Wait, what?_ Z-one had actually given her the card? As a child, when the fire broke out? "Why?" she spat, her question echoed by Lucciano and Plácido. Somehow, she didn't think they were asking the same question.

"I have been… remiss. Miss Leblanc is an ally."

"Oh, perhaps now she is, but she wasn't—"

"For fuck's sake, Aporia, she's Chiasma!" Paradox shouted. "That's why the card works for her! She didn't steal it! She can't have stolen it! There's no way it would have worked for her if she had!"

For the first time, Yliaster fell silent. "… Chiasma?" José said. Paradox, Bruno and Z-one all nodded.

"Who's Chiasma?" Aki asked, her first input in the conversation. Z-one shook his head gravely.

"She was an ally who unfortunately died too soon. She provided us with access to much of the technology we needed to survive and to create time travel. When I realized miss Leblanc's life was in danger, I thought to protect her. An old debt to a loyal ally. I never imagined…" he fell silent. "Miss Leblanc, I fear I have inadvertently done you great harm. I offer you my sincerest apologies."

"So what, these assholes didn't know Chiasma?" Sherry asked. That sounded ridiculous. They must have known.

"Of course we knew of Chiasma!" Plácido replied. "Just—"

"You didn't know she was milady." Mizoguchi looked quietly furious.

"Chiasma was long dead by the time Aporia joined us," Bruno said softly. "Sherry, I'm sorry, I didn't think this would…" he trailed off. "We were idiots, I'm so sorry."

"I don't understand. They knew about Chiasma and they still wanted to kill me?"

"We are not in the habit of mentioning our real names. It is considered… Disrespectful to bring up a past most of us do not wish to remember. We were unaware that Chiasma was Sherry Leblanc," said José.

Sherry's mind crashed to a halt. All this time… All these questions, all those sleepless nights… She rounded on Paradox and Bruno. "They killed my parents because you _couldn't fucking talk to each other?"_ she screeched.

Both of them looked incredibly guilty. "We can fix it," Paradox said. "I'm pretty sure we can stop it, there's time travel, after this we'll fix it."

Lucciano cackled. "The poor little girl can't survive without mommy and daddy to hold her? Are you that stupid? They'll just die in the end anyway, like everyone else! They always do!"

"Aporia, that's enough!" Z-one snapped. Sherry moved forward, hand going towards her deck. Mizoguchi put a hand on her shoulder again, but she could feel him trembling. She wasn't the only one too furious for words.

"Miss Leblanc, I apologize sincerely," Z-one continued. "Paradox is right, however. We have the resources to prevent the deaths of your parents. The responsibility is mine. I have not been vigilant enough. I beg you not to blame Aporia for the information we were careless enough not to share. They acted the way they should have based on the information available to them."

"Don't blame them?" Sherry laughed harshly. "Never. You may bring my parents back, Z-one, but do you really think I will ever forget? I cannot. I never will."

"Unfortunately, you are correct. It is the burden of a time traveler that was placed upon you."

'The hell's that supposed to mean?"

Z-one wasn't put off by her tone. "It is a fact that has both helped us and hindered us. A person who steps out of the linear flow of time is no longer bound by its consequences. Our own actions can never affect our future selves. I could kill my past self right here and now and yet my existence would not cease."

Paradox and Antinomy cast uncomfortable looks at Yusei, who frowned. Z-one didn't notice. Sherry did. What was that about?

"You have traveled through time already, miss Leblanc. Were we to bring your parents back to life, you would always carry a completely different set of memories, where you lived through your life without them. It would be strange and disorienting and I cannot say for certain whether you would have been able to live with it."

Sherry exchanged a look with Mizoguchi and shrugged. "So you're saying I'd still be me anyway and my parents would be alive? Fine by me."

"The happy life you could have had will always be out of your reach—"

"So what? It's out of my reach now too. Nothing's changed, but at least I'd have my parents back."

"I understand." Z-one floated closer. Mizoguchi stiffened behind her, but Sherry stood her ground. "Then, miss Leblanc, I will ask you officially: Chiasma was our trusted ally for many years. Will you become ours too?"

For a moment, Sherry spared another thought for the woman who had lived her entire life with her parents around. Who had become head of Leblanc Entreprises. Who had still seen her life fall to ruin in the end and died. Was it better or worse? It didn't matter. She wasn't that person. She cast another look at Yliaster. Only the oldest one looked regretful in any way. The kid looked as manic as always and the middle one scoffed when he saw her look. She'd have to deal with them. But she could ignore them if she wanted to. And Z-one could bring her parents back.

"Fine. I'll help you out."

 **oOoOo**

He was not Fudou Yusei.

It was the only thing that had kept him going through sleepless nights and restless days, past the death of comrade after comrade, city after city, until even the Machine Emperors crashed, not enough humans left to power the Momentum that kept them going.

He was not Fudou Yusei. His failures didn't matter; he was a mere scientist, a mere copycat. Yusei would have succeeded where he had failed. Therefore—

And all the coincidences, all the times Chiasma claimed otherwise, all the times Antinomy and Paradox looked at him with ill-concealed disbelief, none of it mattered. He knew who he was. No one knew him better than himself.

No one, perhaps, but Fudou Yusei.

For Fudou Yusei—younger than he had been when he'd disappeared, but equally steadfast— was looking at him, eyebrows furrowed and blue eyes shimmering with something. He had appeared after everyone else had gone to sleep. Z-one knew that look. He'd seen it in Antinomy and Paradox, in Chiasma and recently even in the young Sherry Leblanc. The disbelief. The distrust. Fudou Yusei didn't believe his story. And if Fudou Yusei didn't believe him, then where did that leave him? Then who was he?

"You have my eyes," Fudou Yusei said. "You look like me, don't you? Why is that?"

Z-one almost felt relieved; it was a question he'd answered too many times to count.

"I was a scientist. I programmed my machines with your parameters as to reconstruct my body in your image."

Fudou Yusei gave no outward reaction aside from a slight narrowing of his eyes. " What kind of scientist were you?"

"A physicist." Like Fudou Yusei had been. Like Fudou Yusei became in every single iteration of the timeline.

He almost missed Yusei's soft "huh." He knew it was unusual for a physicist to have machinery more suited to a medical engineer, and in truth, he didn't remember when he'd built them, but they'd been in his lab. Therefore they were his.

"What was your recovery like?"

It had been harrowing. Lying there, waiting for his body to knit itself back together and knowing that the Machine Emperors could invade his little sanctuary at any moment. Every sound, every little creak, had been enough to send his mind spinning.

Yusei was still looking at him expectantly. Z-one took a deep breath. "It felt longer at the time, but I believe the recovery process took about two days."

"Two… days?"

"The process was complicated," Z-one defended. "My body needed the time to recover."

"Not a lot of time."

"Excuse me?"

Yusei sighed. He paced the ground in front of Z-one. "I didn't think…" He shook his head. "Crow broke his arm last month. You know that, right?"

Z-one did, though he had no idea what Yusei was trying to say by mentioning this.

"It took him three weeks to be able to use his arm well enough to ride his D-Wheel again. Did you really recover in just two days?"

"Technology will have advanced by the time the Machine Emperors emerge."

Yusei laughed. "It's not about technology, Z-one. Crow already had the best technology, because Aki insisted on paying for it. It's about our bodies. A human body is physically incapable of handling that much stress."

Had Fudou Yusei always been this belligerent? Z-one was too old to still be impressed by meeting his idols, particularly when those idols were 19 instead of the 32 Fudou Yusei had been when he'd disappeared. And yet… It hurt. To have Yusei of all people so casually dismiss his story and all the sacrifices he'd made.

Yusei sighed. He shifted his weight, shook his head, took a deep breath and then met Z-one's eyes straight on.

"Look, let's not… Let's not kid ourselves here. You're me. I'm pretty sure every single one of your friends knows it and you seem to be the only person unable to accept that. And I can be oblivious sometimes, and I've hurt more people than I'd like because of that, but I'm not delusional. So. What happened?"

"You saying so does not make it the truth, Fudou Yusei."

"Your denial can't make what you believe the truth either. If were were to do a DNA-test right now—"

"Of course the results would be the same," Z-one said impatiently. "I made myself into you."

" _Are you hearing yourself right now?"_ Yusei looked uncharacteristically furious. "You can't change your DNA! It's not possible! Not today, not in the future, not ever!"

That… It was true that they had never been able to replicate the experiment, but there had never been any need for it either. Surely that didn't mean— Did it?

Yusei calmed himself down with visible effort. "I don't know how bad it was and I don't know what your —my— reasons were. I can imagine, but…" He shuddered. "Does running from the past really help?"

It felt like a judgment, and Z-one bristled. Who was some nineteen-year-old to tell him how he should have lived his life? But then he looked at Yusei's face and the open uncertainty displayed there. Not a judgment. A question.

"I couldn't stop, but there was no way for me to keep going. But someone else still could. And I survived," he added, almost petulant. "It worked. I could save people. Antinomy, Aporia…" Not enough, never enough, but better than before. "It worked," he repeated, suddenly desperate for Yusei to understand. "It doesn't matter who I am at the end of the day, because—"

"It worked."

Yusei fell silent. Z-one didn't feel the need to break the silence. Fudou Yusei, Zachary O'Neill… Perhaps they had been one and the same, the way Chiasma had always claimed. He didn't remember much from before the attack of the Machine Emperors. What little he did remember was paralyzing in its intensity. Fudou Yusei had been elevated to a near-godlike figure in his lifetime, even when all he'd ever wanted was a life of relative obscurity. That pressure had been too much for him to bear. A facsimile of Yusei could handle it, but never Yusei himself. Not the Yusei he had been.

 **oOoOo**

Rally had been feeling like things were finally going right for a change. Yusei had come to Satellite, and then he and Martha had mobilized everyone they could find. Jack and Crow had been waiting for them with Ushio-san and Mikage-san and several members of the Red Cross and the fire brigade. They'd brought with them all the things needed to survive in a City without Momentum and for once, they'd been welcomed with open arms.

The City people who hadn't evacuated yet had finally gained some common sense and now several groups of City and Satellite people had teamed up and were going around the city, looking for anyone who needed help and clearing the roads as best as they could along the way. It was _working._

And if she was being completely honest with herself, Rally was having fun. Sure, there was chaos everywhere and having that massive thing hovering over their heads had been scary the first three days, but now they were on day four and the Ark hadn't done much of anything since it'd appeared. And watching the City people flounder through a lack of Momentum was hilarious. She'd been helping to clear out the rubble all night and she was dead on her feet, but it had been worth it; early in the morning they'd finally been able to evacuate most of Neo Domino's patients. Among the cheers that had gone up, Rally had met the eyes of a much older City woman and they'd smiled at each other. They were coming together.

The Ark was still there, but Rally had run into Jack a few hours ago and he'd told her that Yusei had gone up there. Yusei'd fix it. He'd find those New World assholes and kick their asses. The Earthbound Gods hadn't been able to destroy their city. No way in hell some wannabe world rulers would be able to.

Overhead, an announcement sounded through the streets. Rally listened while taking a large gulp of a bottle of water and passing it on to the City girl next to her.

"Thanks," the girl said. She too turned towards the sound.

"— _Restored power to the video screens on advertisement boards. We shall use these screens to inform you of all developments. A drone will be sent to take stock of the situation on the structure called the Ark Cradle."_

Rally perked up. "This I wanna see!"

"Yes, me too!" the girl next to her said. She turned to face Rally. "What's your name?"

"Rally."

"Minamoto Noriko," the girl said. Rally barely hid a grimace. Wow, City much? But she smiled anyway. It didn't matter. They were in this together and soon everything would be alright again.

"Yusei's gonna beat them," she said. Minamoto-san looked up at the screens.

"Do you mean Fudou-san? Do you know him?" she asked. Rally grinned.

"Yeah! He's great, you'll see. That thing'll be gone in no time!"

"I hope so." Minamoto-san made a face. "That thing is an eyesore. And it is ruining Mama's business."

Heh. Rally didn't reply and looked at the nearest vidscreen. It remained black just like the days before. But soon, very soon… It didn't take long. After only a few minutes the screens flickered to life, showing the dark sky above the City and the edge of the Ark Cradle just to the right of the screen. The image shifted and steadied, and suddenly the screen was filled with the bottom part of the Ark Cradle, a mass of towering structures and uneven edges.

"It's a city," Minamoto-san said breathlessly. Rally felt like she'd been punched. Not just any city—Satellite. There was Daedalus Bridge, the unfinished version the legendary duelist had attempted to build, the one Rally had seen looming over her home for all of her life. There was no newer bridge to go with it. Why not?

And why was she wondering about the new Daedalus Bridge in the first place? She should be wondering why whatever asshole that had made the Ark had made it look like Satellite in the first place! Were they just trying to make Satellite look like the bad guys again?

But if that was the case, they'd really underestimated just how stupid City people could be. Minamoto-san was staring at the upside-down city, but she hadn't seemed to realize at all that it was really Satellite. Probably had only ever seen it from afar.

The drone climbed higher and higher, navigating between eerily empty buildings. How real was this city? Were there living rooms inside the houses, with tables and sofas and chairs all upside-down? Had anyone ever lived in there? The camera view reached the top —or bottom— of the city and the drone navigated towards the edge, over the top of the Ark Cradle. The other side of it was almost empty in comparison. Rally watched with bated breath as the drone made its way into the open and she, along with Minamoto-san and several people next to them, let out a sigh of relief when the drone found an opening and entered the Ark unnoticed. It could've been shot down so many times already. Good thing it was so small.

The screens turned dark. Hesitant murmuring went up among the crowd and for a minute Rally thought the drone had malfunctioned. But then vague flashes of light started appearing on the screen again. She saw outlines of platforms and pillars going past as the drone descended deeper and deeper into the Ark. It finally found an opening and followed it, the image turning clearer again and giving them their first good look of the surroundings. Grey and more grey. And then, suddenly, light.

Rally slapped a hand in front of her mouth to muffle her gasp and immediately realized how stupid that was. The drone wasn't broadcasting their reactions. The drone was high up, near the ceiling of the Ark. She hoped it was too high for any of the people inside to spot it. They'd know now. Who had been behind this? No one had claimed responsibility for the Ark. Not publicly, at least.

There were several people on the Ark, more than she'd expected. The drone's image blurred, then sharpened. It focused in on a group of three off to the side. Rally narrowed her eyes.

"Always knew they couldn't be trusted," she said as Team New World came into view. Minamoto-san nodded seriously.

"Their dueling style was always very brutish."

"Yusei'll defeat them," Rally said confidently just as the camera zoomed out, over a weird robot shell thing and then to the other side of the room.

Behind her, angry murmuring went up.

Because Yusei was already on the Ark.

But he wasn't defeating them. He wasn't even fighting them.

Yusei was sitting on the floor, Izayoi Aki next to him, the two of them deeply involved in a tabletop duel with—

"Is that Bruno?" she muttered. Minamoto-san threw her a sharp look.

"That's Timothy Kant! From Team Chevalier! What are they doing?"

Rally didn't understand. All of Team Chevalier was on board of the Ark, so they had to be involved with this Ark thing too. But Bruno —Timothy Kant?— was there and he'd been the guys' friend.

"Crow said Yusei was going to defeat them…" she muttered.

"Well, he isn't doing that now, is he?" Minamoto-san snapped. "What are you people playing at?"

"'You people'?" Rally spat. Because she couldn't focus on the first part. Because Yusei might be dueling, sure, but this looked like nothing more than a casual duel between friends. They were smiling. Laughing. Yusei wasn't trying to defeat them, he was _working_ with them!

"Oh, I get it," said Minamoto-san. "How did you plan this, huh? How'd you take Momentum away from us? Taking us hostage just so you could get your revenge?"

"Are you _insane_?" Rally screeched. "What about you? You City people are all up there too! A—" No, she couldn't say Aki, Aki had helped save Satellite in the past. "Team Chevalier, they're Tops!"

All around her, shouts went up, arguments and fights breaking out. Rally couldn't focus on it. She was too busy glaring daggers at Minamoto. And to think she'd thought this conceited City girl was okay! "You're all trying to set us up! That's why you made it look like Satellite!"

"Sate—? Oh, of course! What more proof do you want? That's all your doing! _Fudou Yusei's gonna save us!_ " she said with an exaggerated Satellite accent. "He'll save _you!_ Why would we ever trust some Satellite scum to help _us?_ "

Rally opened her mouth, momentarily struck speechless. Then she punched Minamoto.

Above her, the Ark shook as a new volley of attacks hit it, the noise of it too far away to be heard over the sound of the riot breaking out.

* * *

 _Rally is trans fite me_

 ** _Next chapter:_**


	22. XIX - Crashing Down

_**There are trigger warnings for this chapter! Scroll down to the end to see them.**_

* * *

 **XIX. Crashing Down**

Lucciano did not feel pain. He hadn't in several years, and he had never been more grateful for that fact than right now, with the Ark collapsing all around them. Finally, after several far-too-long minutes, the explosions stopped, and he carefully picked himself up to survey the damage. His right arm had been damaged by falling debris, but that was okay. His left hand was still perfectly fine, and that was all that mattered.

Some of the lights were still working, still connected to the Momentum reactor powering the Ark. That meant it was still turning. One less thing to worry about. On closer inspection, it appeared that both Paradox and the Izayoi girl had summoned their monsters to stave off the collapse. Trishula, that new dragon Paradox had taken to using, was shielding Lucciano himself, Z-one, the Leblanc woman, her bodyguard and Paradox. Izayoi's monster had spread its massive wings to cover everyone else. Everyone still alive, then. Pity. Losing Yusei or the Leblanc woman would have been no skin off Lucciano's back.

Not all unharmed, though. Antinomy was bleeding from a deep cut in his left arm and winced every time he moved; Yusei was trying to take a look at it, but Antinomy kept waving him off. Served him right for sticking with such a fleshy body. At least Lucciano himself was a lot more resistant to damage.

"Is everyone all right?" Z-one asked. He got answering groans in reply.

"How's the structural integrity?" asked Paradox. "Can we let the dragons go?"

Z-one remained silent for a few seconds as he assessed the Ark. "Antinomy, Aki, Fudou Yusei, please move five meters to your right," he said. "You can release the dragons."

Paradox did so without question. Izayoi was clearly far more reluctant. Her massive dragon only disappeared gradually, and the moment it did, part of the ceiling came crashing down again, right where she had been standing a minute earlier.

"What happened?" Yusei asked, voice wavering. "Why are they shooting? They were getting along, weren't they?"

Z-one didn't say anything for a very long time. Then, with slow, measured movements, he made his way over to the rubble and sifted through it, finally coming up with the mangled remains of something that once might have been metal.

"A drone," he announced. Antinomy paled.

"They spied on us?"

"I was remiss in not noticing it."

Aki was carefully picking up the cards she'd abandoned when the ceiling had come crashing down on them. Antinomy watched her do so, face going even paler if that was at all possible. "They saw, didn't they?"

Lucciano didn't quite understand what he meant by that, but Yusei must have. He turned on Z-one, looking livid. "They think I'm working with _you_?"

 _Well, aren't you?_ Lucciano wanted to say, but Z-one replied before he could.

"They do."

Yusei clenched his fists. "What about the City? What about the people down there?"

Z-one looked extremely reluctant to answer. "… There are riots breaking out. I am sorry."

Yusei went stock-still. For a moment, it seemed like no one took a breath. Then another volley hit the Ark.

Lucciano stumbled, but the blast wasn't as severe as the previous one had been. Izayoi brought out her dragon again but no ceilings seemed to be in danger of collapsing.

"They're really shooting the Ark out of the sky!" Plácido said, quite gleeful. "Don't they know they're destroying their own city all by themselves? And without letting it evacuate, no less!"

Lucciano blanched. "They're not evacuating?" he whispered. But Mama and Papa were down there, and if they died, if they died again…

"Don't be stupid," said José. "They evacuated the inner city before they started shooting."

Oh. Okay. Lucciano sighed. Yes, of course. The people down there were stupid, but they weren't that stupid. Yes, Mama and Papa had gotten out, for sure. If this was the end of it, they would be fine.

"I still say we should just let the entire thing drop," said Plácido.

"If it comes to that," Z-one said, "we will take it into consideration."

Aki growled and raised her duel disk. "Over my dead body."

Lucciano exchanged a look with his older counterpart. They agreed: That could be arranged. Izayoi might be a powerful opponent with her psychic powers and Accel Synchro, but she was only a flesh-and-blood human. They died so easily, humans. So very very easily, all around them. It was no use to rely on them because they always, always died. But that was over and done with. They were fine and Lucciano didn't care in the slightest about what happened to the city down there. It was pure sentiment that kept it from being destroyed. The sooner Antinomy admitted that, the sooner they could get this over with.

"Paradox? Are you okay?" the Leblanc woman asked, her voice more worried than Lucciano had heard her before. Paradox had been fine earlier, so what was her deal now?

"Yeah, I'm fine," Paradox replied, but he didn't sound fine. He… actually looked incredibly pale, sweat beading his face, his hands clenching at his side. "I can hold it, I'm fine. It'll pass." He took a deep breath. "Just… Give me a minute. The city's not doing well."

What a strange thing to say. Lucciano narrowed his eyes. Obviously the city was not doing well. It would be in ruins by now. Paradox clenched his fists more tightly, his head bowed. The Leblanc woman moved closer, trying to get a good look at his face. Antinomy abandoned his side of the room and walked over.

"Paradox, what's wrong?"

Paradox only shook his head. Now Lucciano was actually getting worried himself.

"Hey, Antinomy?" he said, voice halting. "Z-one? Remember 20… Oh, 2051?"

"The Ein invasion?" Antinomy asked. Lucciano did not shudder. He did not. He hadn't been this person anymore by then. He had been Plácido, and… yeah, Plácido had curled into himself. The Ein invasion. The very first appearance of the smaller Machine Emperors that could access all the basements that had been safe hiding spots up until then. The invasion that had resulted in Ayumi's death. And Lucciano didn't remember much about her, his focus had never been on her, but he remembered the searing pain he had felt at that moment.

"Yeah," Paradox said through gritted teeth. "You remember how we saved ourselves, right? Remember what we did with the cards? You should leave, now. I can't hold them anymore."

Antinomy paled, eyes growing wide and frantic as he looked around. Z-one turned his entire body around, a movement so sudden and unlike him that it surprised them all. "They were sealed," he said. "You have always been able to keep them sealed, even across time…"

"I know," Paradox gritted out. "I know. But it's the original reactor, it's the original people, and the city is going out of control and they're reacting. Aporia, please, your deck—"

"What is going on?" Plácido snapped. He had regained his wits after the mention of the Ein invasion, finally. José stayed suspiciously silent, but something about his face… Lucciano didn't like the turn this conversation was taking. Not at all.

"We didn't have defenses. We didn't have anything to fight the Ein, to fight the army," Antinomy said, stumbling over the words. "Except— Except Paradox. He—"

"I trapped them," Paradox managed. Yusei made a noise of realization.

"Like Stardust Dragon?"

"Yes, now, please, just get out of here. They're—"

"They're the monsters you gave us," Lucciano gasped out. "You gave us the Machine Emperors, they should've been safe, they should've been!"

"Quiet!" José told him. He took his deck and carefully placed it on the ground, then stepped away from it. Did Lucciano actually see the deck shimmer? He pulled his deck holder loose and flung it away from him. He couldn't, not with the Machine Emperors, he couldn't deal with that anymore… From the corner of his eyes, he saw Plácido do the same.

"Okay, now, leave. I'll keep them as long as—"

Lucciano _felt_ the energy spike. He backed away from the cards, just in time to see Paradox double over and collapse, unconscious. "Paradox!" the Leblanc woman shouted. Antinomy broke into a sprint, only to come to a halt abruptly when— When—

Machine Emperor Grannel. It formed in the middle of the Ark Cradle, more massive and more imposing than even Lucciano's nightmares had been able to replicate. And Skiel, and Wisel, and all the Eins and the entire army and they were here and he couldn't—

"Come on!" Leblanc shouted. Her bodyguard grabbed Paradox and threw him over his shoulder, but Lucciano couldn't move, and Antinomy stayed frozen and Z-one, Z-one didn't even do anything, he didn't save them like he had before. Grannel was charging its weapons and Plácido had sunk to his knees and José had just given up. The Leblanc woman and her bodyguard had taken off running, Paradox along with them. Antinomy didn't follow. He only stared at the Machine Emperors, the same quiet resignation in his eyes that José carried.

"Bruno, come on!" Yusei grabbed his arm and tried to pull him along. "Snap out of it! Bruno! Antinomy!"

"It's no use," said Antinomy, and he was right, wasn't he? After everything they'd been through, everything they'd tried, they would see their end the way they should have years ago, by the Machine Emperors, the enemies they thought they'd tamed. How wrong, how foolish they had been! Lucciano screamed. Machine Emperor Skiel swiveled, its unblinking light settling upon him, and Wisel shot at Antinomy and—

Izayoi's Accel Synchro dragon reared up, taking the shot and deflecting it, its wings covering Antinomy and Yusei. Its tail lashed out, catching Machine Emperor Skiel as it fired. The shot went wild, missed Lucciano and blasted a hole through the Ark, but what could one monster do? Useless, useless, and they'd all die here and the monsters would escape to the city below. Already, the Eins were spreading out, leaving through the hole Skiel had created. Mama and Papa were going to die again and he couldn't stop it, had never been able to stop it, what had they been doing? Why had they ever thought this could work when they had been doomed from the very beginning? There was no hope for them, not now, not ever, only despair and pain and nothing, nothing they could ever do about it.

"Z-one!" Izayoi shouted. Her Efflorescent Rose Dragon was getting overwhelmed, as it should be, as they always would be, again and again and again and again and— "What works against them?"

Z-one did not reply straight away. Then, sounding as if he came from very far away, he said: "No Synchro. Not… Accel Synchro, maybe."

Izayoi nodded. "Get out of here, I'll hold them off."

Get out? Where to? The Ark was in ruins already and it would be overrun soon. Lucciano curled up. Nowhere to go, nowhere to go. Machine Emperor Grannel returned, descending from above. So many of them, everywhere. It was no use. They were all going to die.

"Oh for god's sake, come on!" Izayoi shouted. "Yusei, you got anything?"

"It's Synchro, but there's Turbo Warrior. Can't be destroyed by anything under level six."

Izayoi nodded. The monster appeared seconds later, offering Efflorescent Rose Dragon some much-needed relief. Not that it would do much. Not that it would do anything at all. The two monsters wouldn't hold out, not against the Machine Emperors. Already Efflorescent Rose Dragon was pushed on the defense, disappearing and reappearing randomly all across the room. Not enough. Never enough. Paradox was gone along with the Leblanc woman and her bodyguard. They'd be shot down before they ever got out. Antinomy still stared blankly ahead, a fixed point in the middle of the room, shielded by Izayoi and Yusei. Izayoi was losing strength. She wouldn't be able to hold on.

Lucciano felt the shot when it impacted, not with him, no, because the universe wasn't kind enough to kill him off. No, it was Plácido, struck by Wisel, of course it had to be Wisel, but he was still around, programming not yet shutting down. Lucciano knew that. Knew it because they were all connected anyway, because he was assessing the damage as it occurred. No repairs for this one, not now, no time for it.

Izayoi staggered as a shot from the Army almost hit her and impacted right near Antinomy, who lost his balance and fell. Yusei caught him, but couldn't hold his weight and went down along with him. Izayoi landed on one knee, glanced over at them and pushed herself up.

"Sorry," Lucciano read on her lips. She lunged for Antinomy, grabbed his deck holder and in a single movement took out a card. Blade Gunner. "You'll thank me later. Yusei, get him out. Take Turbo Warrior and find Sherry."

Yusei nodded, dragged Antinomy up and pulled him along. Slowly, ever so slowly, Antinomy was regaining his wits. Useless, useless. Lucciano ducked down, out of sight, away from Plácido who was now unmoving and rapidly shutting down. The hole in his chest that Wisel had created, his left arm almost completely blown off… The fate that awaited them all.

Another hit, right near Lucciano, and the shrapnel bored through his arm and into his side. It didn't hurt, but he screamed anyway, because it should have hurt and he felt all the ways it had hurt so many years ago, when Mama and Papa, Mama and Papa who were down in Neo Domino which was being stormed by the Army which had been in their hands all this time and he had just doomed them again.

Z-one— Even Z-one was hurt, the complex machinery keeping him alive visibly damaged. But he still lived. Z-one had to live. Because Paradox was long dead, no chance for him if he was unconscious with the Machine Emperors on his tail. Izayoi was trying but she wouldn't for much longer, not with the blood running down her face from multiple cuts, not when Yusei was limping and the cut in Antinomy's arm had reopened, the sleeve of his riding outfit coloring darker with blood.

He felt José get hit, felt him shut down almost immediately, futile struggles of a mind already long dead. Just him. Just him since the very beginning. It had always been just him. Mama and Papa had called him their light, had found so much hope in him, had told him to grow up strong and smart and take care of everyone he loved and he had failed. Kouki the little lost child was long gone, and it was just Lucciano left, a fragment of a fragment of what had once been a person. And very soon, there wouldn't even be that anymore.

 _Lucciano._

Z-one. But what could Z-one do to save them now? Z-one had done so much for them, but this was the end of it. They could not survive anymore. There was no chance. José and Plácido were gone, shot down by the Machine Emperors who kept increasing in number, no matter how many Blade Gunner and Efflorescent Rose Dragon took out. The monsters were on the defense. They were Accel Synchro, but they were still Synchro, and they wouldn't last forever. Fudou Yusei and his Synchro monster were doomed and they had doomed Antinomy along with him. Was it just Lucciano left? Just Lucciano and Z-one? Was this the end, were they all going to die here? Yes, it would be fitting. What little hope they had would always be overtaken by despair. That was the only constant throughout his entire life, the one thing that had always accompanied him. There was no chance, no light, no hope in his life. No trace of Kouki left, only him.

 _Lucciano, you have to save yourself. You have to fuse._

Fuse? How useless. A temporary delay, nothing more, nothing that would save them. There was nothing left of them.

 _I cannot see another one of you die. Please initiate the procedure._

It should not have been him to do so. He had never been made to do so. José was, but José was buried under rubble, nothing more than metal now, with just the vaguest flickering of consciousness.

 _I shall not permit you to die. Do it. Now!_

Z-one… Yes, Z-one had always protected them and saved them. He was still taking care of them, when all hope was lost. If he had to, if he couldn't believe that Mama and Papa were still alive, if he couldn't believe that Antinomy and Paradox were still alive, he could… He could still believe in Z-one.

"Initiate," he whispered.

It was completion. Not the kind of completion that brought joy, for there would never again be such a thing, but it came with a certain sense of peace. His mind, fractured so long ago, was reuniting. He was growing younger and older all at once, the cracks of his personality smoothing over until they resembled something that almost looked whole from a distance. It was, perhaps, reason. No longer the panic of his youngest self, the despair of his middle self or the resignation of his oldest self. And although they were still in horrible danger with no clear way out, Aporia felt stronger now. He had a mission. He had to save Z-one, who had saved him.

But the Machine Emperors were still widespread, and even though Izayoi was still holding them off, the Ark was rapidly losing structural integrity. They had to get rid of the Machine Emperors or the whole thing would collapse on top of Neo Domino City. The explosions below taught him that the city itself was already suffering from the Machine Army. This was not how the destruction of Neo Domino City had been planned. It had been supposed to be, above all things, fast. One flash, one explosion, and the destruction of all life within a 100-kilometer radius. Fast, and painless. Not this horrible fate.

Aporia grabbed the nearest Ein monster, tiny Skiel, and crushed it. He could do that now. He had no more monsters, his monsters freed and turned against him after so many years, but he was not flesh and blood like Izayoi or even Paradox and Antinomy. Where were they? Were they even still alive? Z-one seemed convinced that they were. His younger self had missed it, but Z-one's mind was still clear, clearer now that they had reunited again. They were still alive. They had to be. And as long as they were still alive, Aporia would continue to fight. He made his way over to Izayoi, who looked up and gasped.

"Who're you?" she gritted out as she helped out both her own monster and Antinomy's.

"Aporia," he told her. "Yliaster."

The woman closed her eyes and nodded. No time for questions now, not with Grannel rising up again in front of them and blasting a hole down the Ark that shattered through the floor and right down to Neo Domino City.

"Efflorescent Rose Dragon!" Izayoi gasped. The dragon dove down and intercepted the blast, but it cried out in pain and plummeted down almost to the city itself before it could pull up again. They were left near-defenseless.

Hoofbeats, and suddenly another monster, one Izayoi hadn't summoned, appeared. Aporia knew it, although he could not place it right away. A Fusion monster… A centaur…

"Centaur Mina?" Izayoi managed. Right, of course, the Fusion monster of Sherry Leblanc. An inspired choice. It would not suffer from the Machine Emperors' effects. And if it was here without Izayoi summoning it…

"Aki, you okay?" Leblanc shouted. She had reappeared on the other side of the room, with her bodyguard, and, thank whatever bit of goodness that was still looking out for them, Paradox. He was conscious again, pale but looking stronger than before, and the addition of the extra monster was thinning out the legions of Ein monsters.

"Aporia?" Paradox asked. Aporia nodded. Paradox took his new appearance in stride . "Where's Antinomy?"

"With Yusei," said Izayoi. "Somewhere."

Paradox looked at Z-one, who was holding off some of the Machine Emperors bare-handed, like Aporia was doing. "Still alive, then," he muttered. Paradox often said strange things like that. Perhaps it was because he was psychic? Was the Izayoi woman the same?

Izayoi glanced at Paradox, shifted her stance and seemed to come to a decision. "Could use some help here!" she shouted. "If you're up for it!"

Paradox nodded. "What do you suggest?"

Aporia smashed another one of the monsters, the bigger Grannel Ein. It reared up and fired a blast that missed him by inches.

"Ever released psychic energy?"

Paradox narrowed his eyes. "Once, by accident."

Aporia did not know that story. But then again, he didn't know a lot of stories. Antinomy and Paradox always seemed to know so much more.

"We're going to do it now," Izayoi said. She closed her eyes. Efflorescent Rose Dragon and Blade Gunner wavered briefly, but a second later, they were back in full force. Paradox followed her example. "Got a center?" she shouted at Paradox.

That did not make sense to Aporia, or indeed, Sherry Leblanc and her bodyguard, but it seemed to hold meaning for Paradox. He tensed up, nodded, and opened his eyes, their customary yellow now overtaken by something Aporia could not place. A certain sparkle, perhaps. Something flowing and fluid. Izayoi did the same, and the brown of her eyes gained the same spark.

"Now," she said.

The blast came from two sides, Paradox and Izayoi. It washed over him harmlessly, but Machine Emperor Wisel, the only one still on board of the Ark, took the full brunt of the attack and sparked, short-circuiting before their very eyes. Blade Gunner raised one massive cannon and shot right through it, destroying the infinity core and its means of attack. Another attack from Efflorescent Rose Dragon disintegrated it. All around them, the Ein monsters were shorting out and falling down. Within seconds, silence descended on the Ark, only punctuated by the explosions coming from the city below. Izayoi looked around, nodded at Aporia and Z-one, and slumped when no more Machine Emperors appeared.

"Couldn't do that alone, thanks," she muttered. Paradox nodded in return. "Everyone okay?"

"Where is Antinomy?" Paradox asked. Z-one came over, the damage to the machine already starting to repair itself.

"He is safe," he said. "He and Fudou Yusei are near the third gear. Their exit is blocked, but they are unharmed, mostly."

Had they really all made it out alive? Had fate actually been that merciful?

But an ear-shattering explosion reached the Ark, and through the holes made by the Machine Emperors they could see the city below. Fire, Aporia saw, and explosions, one after the other. Something that sounded like gunfire. Aporia imagined screams. The Ark was safe, but the city was under attack.

"Oh god," Leblanc whispered, and Paradox shook his head.

"May they be safe," Z-one whispered.

 _May their deaths be painless,_ Aporia thought instead.

 **oOoOo**

The cut on his arm wasn't even close to the worst injury he'd ever suffered. That one time he'd managed to split his skull open still won that particular contest. But still, it stung, and the bleeding hadn't quite stopped yet. Worse, it was his left arm. If he hadn't frozen, if he'd been able to run when the Machine Emperors had appeared, maybe they wouldn't be here now, blocked off from the rest of the Ark when Turbo Warrior had shot down the ceiling to protect them. He vaguely remembered Aki taking Blade Gunner. He didn't want to feel angry about it; she'd had to do something. But he was missing one of the cards in his deck now and it left him feeling naked.

"Here, sit still," said Yusei. He fished a handkerchief out of the pocket of his jacket and tied it around his arm. It immediately colored red. Yusei frowned.

"We need to get you some help."

"It's fine," he said. He'd had worse and survived it.

The explosions had stopped. Did that mean Aki had defeated the Machine Emperors? Or did it mean that everyone… He shook his head. No use thinking about it now, when there was nothing he could do anyway. He'd frozen up. If it hadn't been for Yusei and Aki, he would have been dead.

"I'm sorry." He couldn't look at Yusei. "I shouldn't have frozen. It's not the first time we've faced them. I should've been okay."

But it had been the first time in decades. It had been too long ago. It was the first time in this body, even. And however much he wanted to think that nothing had changed, sometimes he acted differently from the way his former self had. Some things had changed. He didn't want to contemplate how big those changes were. Was he still the same person? And if he wasn't, then who was he? Where did all of this leave him?

Yusei adjusted the handkerchief one last time and wrapped a hand around his wrist. "It's fine. We're safe."

Turbo Warrior disappeared. Either Aki had dismissed it or she wasn't around anymore to keep it around. Yusei's hand tightened around his wrist. He tensed up for a few seconds, then relaxed.

"She's fine," he announced. He nodded at his right arm, the one with the Birthmark. Ah, that'd explain it. A convenient way to keep tabs on each other.

"What is this place?" Yusei leaned back and looked around. "A gear?"

"Yeah, it's one of the gear chambers." He didn't know immediately which one. "There are three."

"For a planetary gear system? Why only three? You'd have a far more stable system if you had four or five."

He almost smiled. That was Yusei for you. "It was complicated enough to get this working."

"I'll bet." Yusei still hadn't let go of his wrist. He sighed.

"What's wrong?"

Yusei looked down, eyes shadowed. "Neo Domino… They're fighting now, aren't they?"

Without Delta Eagle, he couldn't check the City's communication channels like Z-one and Aporia could, but he didn't need to. "I'm sorry," he could only say.

"What were you planning anyway? If you'd wanted to destroy the city, you would've done so right after the semifinals." Yusei still wasn't looking at him.

"That was the original plan." He saw no harm in admitting that. "Neo Domino was the problem, so Neo Domino needed to be destroyed."

Yusei flinched, but took it remarkably in stride. "Then why didn't you?"

"We thought we'd give the city a chance… Give everyone the opportunity to work together."

Yusei finally looked at him, eyes narrowed slightly. "You knew we'd try to get everyone's help?"

"We— _I_ counted on it."

"So I played right into your hands, didn't I?"

He grimaced. "I'm sorry, we couldn't let you know. It'd be too obvious you were in league with us."

"Like they think I am now, you mean?" Yusei laughed bitterly. "Why all this anyway? Why did you need me to get everyone to work together? What was that going to accomplish?"

He didn't reply.

"… Bruno?"

He knew how guilty he must look right now. He knew Yusei could see it just as well. And he still couldn't bring himself to tell the truth.

"Bruno, what aren't you telling me?"

"Yusei, I'm sorry," he said, a preemptive apology that somehow made things much worse.

"You needed the people in the city to work together. Why?" Yusei's voice grew harsher. "Why was that so important?"

"The first Momentum Reactor to go out of control in my future was the central Neo Domino one. We thought if people worked together well enough, the emotions that made it go out of control would be kept at bay," he said, hoping that the information would be enough to placate Yusei.

He should have known it wasn't to be. Yusei's frown only deepened. His hand tightened around Bruno's wrist.

"What emotions? Bad emotions," Yusei said before he had a chance to reply. "It was so important to get everyone working together because if they go on the way they are now, the reactors go out of control. Why? What's so bad that…" his eyes gained a faraway look. "You didn't need to have everyone in the City working together."

"Of course we did, it—"

"No." Yusei's eyes came back into terrifying focus. "Not the City. The City and _Satellite_. Why, Bruno?"

Curse Yusei for always being too clever by half. "It wasn't just that—"

" _Why?"_

He swallowed. Yusei would have found out sooner or later, he told himself. There was no use in hiding it now that the plan had gone disastrously wrong. "The reactor went out of control because of the reunion between the City and Satellite. Because people always distrusted each other."

Yusei's fingers dug into his wrist. "You're sure?"

"All our calculations check out."

"How long have you known?"

Ah. He could claim he'd only found out when the Ark had appeared and it'd been too late to tell Yusei about it. But he also knew Yusei'd see right through it. "I realized the day you found me in Tops."

Yusei abruptly let go of his wrist, jostling his wounded arm and sending new flashes of pain through it. He jumped up. "What the hell, Bruno?! You said you'd tell me if you found anything!"

"I know, but—"

"But what?" Yusei said, turning around to face him with blazing eyes. "We've been talking every day and you lied to me all that time!"

"It was your life's work! I didn't want you to get hurt!"

"Too late for that, isn't it? I could've helped you find another solution!"

"We tried other things! It didn't work out! Aki was going to get Judai and—"

Oh, shit.

"Aki." Yusei had gone stock-still. "You told _her_. You told _Aki_ and you didn't tell me?"

"She understood. It didn't hurt her like—"

"So is that a thing now, you and Aki? Did you teach her Accel Synchro too?"

"No!" Not on either count! He wanted to explain, but any words he might have said dried up in the face of Yusei's ire.

"Then who did, Bruno?"

"Wonder Magician!"

Yusei threw his hands up. "Your own monster. And you're still gonna claim you didn't know."

"I'm blind, I can't see spirits, of course I didn't know!" he said. Yusei made a disgusted sound.

"Spare me the lies, Bruno. Oh wait, that's not your real name either, is it?"

 _It is_ , he wanted to say, but Yusei's words gave him pause. Bruno _wasn't_ his real name. It might have been once but now it was no more than an illusion, a memory of a life he'd long left behind him.

An explosion somewhere far below them. The city. The city they had been poised to destroy and then tried to give a chance. But now the hatred of the city had released the Machine Emperors, again, and it left them with no choice. However much he had loved Neo Domino City and the months he'd spent with Team 5D's, he had a sister who would die if he didn't do anything. He had friends who would be killed so very soon. There was an entire future depending on his ability to act. And no matter how angry Yusei was with him, nothing would change that.

"It's not," Antinomy said. "My real name is Antinomy."

 **oOoOo**

The twins had been helping out in Neo Domino Hospital, keeping the generator there running until the drone had gone up and everything had gone to hell. Jack had only just retrieved them when the explosions started up again. He'd managed to find a car that was long abandoned by its original owners but still untouched by the riots. Goddammit Yusei. What a mess this had become. He needed to get the twins to safety.

"What's going on?" Rua asked, peering out of the window. Jack continued driving with grim determination. They had to get out of the city. Rua gasped. "Jack, look!"

Jack had already seen it. Tops, due to its location closer the edge of the city, had been spared the brunt of the attacks, but the inner city was on fire. Literally on fire. Jack could see some of the smaller skyscrapers go up in flames. He slowed down and came to a stop near the exit that would lead them out of Neo Domino. It was blocked off.

"What's happening?" Ruka whispered. Jack had no answer. It didn't look like the Ark was attacking them. If anything, the Ark itself was being destroyed, and oh hell, Yusei was on there, and Aki too, and even Bruno, idiot that he was.

"Yusei's going to be fine, right?" Rua asked.

"Of course!" his sister said. "Aki-neesan is there, and Bruno! They'll be fine, I'm sure of it!"

Jack nodded with a conviction he didn't feel. "Yusei can take care of himself. He wouldn't be killed by something as stupid as this!"

He put the car in neutral and paused to think for a second. This part of the road was abandoned, most people having fled when the shooting started. He had no idea where Crow was, but Crow could take care of himself. He now needed to get the twins to safety and somehow retrieve Wheel of Fortune, still at Kaiba Corp. He looked at the city. The fire was expanding. And… What were those shapes? Were they coming from the Ark? Those weren't the shots that had been fired from the Ark earlier. They almost seemed to sway above the city, like they were unsure of what to do… But what were they?

"Okay, I'm getting you back to Tops. You stay there until all of this blows over. You should be safe there." He hoped. Tops had those fancy shelters.

"Jack!" Rua protested. "I'm not staying behind! Just take Ruka back to Tops and—"

Ruka stood up in her seat. "I am not leaving, Rua!" she shouted. "I can take care of myself! You don't need to protect me anymore, I'm a Signer!"

"And that makes you better than me? Is that what you're saying?"

"No! It means that I'm not a helpless child anymore!"

"Rua, Ruka, stop it," Jack interrupted. "Not the time or the place. We're going back to Tops now."

"You keep shutting us out!" Rua returned. "You and Yusei and Crow always go do those dangerous things, and we are always left out! You can't treat us like children!"

"You _are_ children!" Jack snapped. "Now sit down and listen. I am not going to let you get hurt, so you had better go to Tops and stay there. You cannot fight this. It's far too dangerous."

Rua's eyes glistened suspiciously. Ruka crossed her arms.

"Fine," she said. "Fine. Shut us out."

Jack abruptly turned his head to face the road again. Just for a minute, he thought, trying to decide how to best get to Tops. The twins'd understand one day, when they were older and hopefully still alive. Jack couldn't leave now. Crow was in the city, and Carly… Oh hell, Carly. He hadn't heard from her in so long. Had she heeded the order to evacuate? Was she okay? If he had told her about the Dark Signers all those months ago, would she still have left? Should they have told her what was going on? Too late for that now. She hadn't replied to his texts or calls in weeks, but maybe now… He found his phone and sent her a message: _Have you evacuated?_

To his great relief, he received the delivery notification seconds later. The message had arrived, which meant her phone, at least, was still on and working. He swallowed and sent the same message again, this time to Crow. Then, to Yusei: _Are you okay?_

He finally found a route that was still mostly undamaged and they made their way back to Tops in silence, the twins glaring at each other and Jack in turn and Jack stubbornly focusing on the road. The city had become a ghost town. There was no one on the streets or even in the houses. He maneuvered the bulk of the car past a small pile-up. Even Satellite had never looked like this.

Ruka peered through the back window into the distance. "What _are_ those?" she asked, finally breaking her petulant silence. The shapes from before were getting closer and closer, descending on the city, and—

A building exploded. Even from a distance, the sound was clearly audible. What had done that? What kind of creature could do that?

Jack's phone beeped. Yusei.

" _We're okay. Be careful, Machine Emperors in city_."

… Machine Emperors?

"Oh no."

Rua glanced at him. "What?"

"I know what those are. We have to get to Tops now."

He hit the gas. Rua leaned over the front seat. "Jack, what are those?"

"Machine Emperors. Sit down." The Machine Emperors were attacking the city. Jack didn't need Ruka's gasp to know how bad this was. In a duel, those monsters had been deadly. Both Bruno and Paradox had claimed that the Machine Emperors had destroyed their entire world. And now they were here, descending on Neo Domino. How had they gotten here? When? Had they come from the Ark, and if so, had Yliaster sent them? But the Ark had been attacked as well, so why had the Machine Emperors turned against their masters? What was going on here?

"Jack!" Rua shouted. Jack looked in the rearview mirror. Rua pointed at the back window, back to where they'd come from. "They're here!"

Jack gritted his teeth. And not just any ordinary Machine Emperor. Machine Emperor Grannel, the massive monster that José had used in all of Team New World's matches. Had they gone up against it in the finals, Jack would have summoned Scar-Red Nova Dragon to beat it. But now they had no defense.

He floored it; they swerved and crossed the road, turning into one of the wide, tree-lined avenues that got more luxurious the closer they got to Tops. On any other day, it would have been a perfectly beautiful place to drive through, but now the wide streets offered them no coverage, and however hard he was pushing the car, they couldn't reach high speeds here and the streets were too dangerous to speed on. Sixty per hour would have been a good speed when they weren't being chased by Machine Emperors. Now was not that time.

"It keeps following us!" Ruka shouted. Jack swore. Did it know there were two Signers on board? Was it singling them out? Or was it just because they were the only people in the vicinity? Machine Emperor Grannel was gaining fast, and worse, it was joined by some of the smaller versions of the Machine Emperors. What were they called again? Didn't matter now.

He gritted his teeth and took a sharp turn right, away from the large avenue and into a smaller streets. No use. Machine Emperor Grannel had caught sight of them and it wasn't letting up.

It shot. Jack swerved and the explosion barely missed them, instead tearing up the street right behind them and leaving an impact crater several meters across. If he'd had Wheel of Fortune, he would have been able to shake them off. This car was far too slow to be allowed in traffic.

His hands were white-knuckled around the wheel as he took a left turn onto a street he knew. He used to take it as a shortcut whenever he went to see the twins. It led directly through the entrance of Tops while bypassing the large avenue that served as its main road. Yes, they would be hidden from sight—

Another explosion, and this one nearly caught the tail-end of the car. He sent the car into a turn that caught the edge of the sidewalk with a horrific noise of rubber on concrete. The twins screamed. Jack clutched the wheel. The car wasn't going to hold much longer. They needed to get out and find cover. But Tops was less than a hundred meters away, and inside, the elaborate elevator system would provide them with cover.

Grannel descended, landing with a horrible sound in the middle of the road. The smaller monsters were surrounding them now, but Tops was so close—

Jack glanced in the rearview mirror and his eyes widened. He yanked the wheel, but Grannel's latest attack had come from too close. It hit the back of the car and sent it spinning. Someone screamed—Jack wasn't sure who. He slammed the brakes and the car came to a slipping halt. They had to get out and away from the Machine Emperors. They wouldn't survive if they didn't. They'd be killed and then who was going to look after Yusei's sorry ass?

"Everyone out!" he shouted. He made it out of the car just when the smaller versions of the Machine Emperors started charging up their attacks. The twins! He threw open the back door and pulled out Ruka first, then Rua. Rua had a cut running the length of his left cheek and was dripping blood on his clothes. Ruka merely looked dazed, but Jack didn't like the disoriented look in her eyes.

"Come on!" He picked Ruka up, grabbed Rua by the hand and pulled them behind the now-totaled car for cover. It wouldn't be able to get them out anymore, but maybe it could hold the attacks off for just a little while, until they found a way to get past the Machine Emperors. Tops was so very close. No more than a few meters, really, but running there was suicide. He crouched down next to Ruka, who was trembling from head to toe, the adrenaline of the ride fading away, replaced by the same mortal terror Jack felt.

"Someone help us," she was muttering. "Please someone help us."

Jack glanced at his arm. Some Crimson Dragon intervention would be very welcome right now, but the mark remained unresponsive. Stupid dragon. It hadn't been very helpful lately.

The car shook as another blast hit it. Jack threw an arm in front of his face and dragged Rua and Ruka to the ground. His riding suit stopped the worst of the damage, but some of the glass still cut through it and he gritted his teeth against the pain. Were they really going to die here? He looked up at the Ark. Was there really nothing they could do? There had to be something… Some way to get out… There! One of the houses lining the street had its door blown off by the Machine Emperors. If they could just make it inside and find cover somewhere in a basement, they would be safe, if only for a little bit. Jack helped the twins to their feet. Ruka still looked dazed, and her blown-wide pupils were not a sight Jack liked. Did she have a concussion? Rua grabbed his sister's arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, helping her stand.

"We gotta get inside!" He shouted over the roar of the constant barrage of attacks. The car was almost down. Just a few more shots…

Rua nodded, his face a picture of grim determination. It was only ten meters, just across the road from the car. But to get there… Jack found a torn-loose piece of metal. It wouldn't do much, but perhaps it could delay the Machine Emperors long enough to give the kids a shot at getting across the road.

"Ready?" he shouted. Rua nodded. Ruka gave a weak smile. The nearest army monster, a smaller version of Machine Emperor Skiel, found its way around the car.

"Go!" Jack shouted. He swung and hit Skiel across the face. The monster was flung back into another one of the smaller monsters. Rua darted past him, pulling Ruka along. Jack jumped out from behind the car and kicked another monster as it charged an attack. The beam went wild and hit a tree behind them, incinerating it. Was that the fate that awaited them? No, no time. The twins were almost across the street. Jack sprinted after them, dodged another of the monsters and caught up with them as they entered the building. Safe, but for how long?

He got his answer immediately when Machine Emperor Grannel blew off the roof of the house. What had Bruno said, all those months ago…?

"Basement!" he remembered. "Go to the basement!" It wasn't much, but it'd offer them some protection, and as long as Grannel was still out there… Rua was pulling open random doors in the house, looking for a staircase that would lead down to the basement. There had to be one. There was no way that these fancy houses here in one of the richest parts of the city didn't have a basement.

Rua cried out in triumph as a door almost on the other side of the house led to a staircase. Jack threw a look back over his shoulder as he ran to join them. The little Machine monsters were almost upon them. They had to get downstairs. He rounded the corner and barreled through the kitchen, over to Rua and Ruka.

And Machine Emperor Grannel shot.

The explosion propelled Jack across the kitchen, against the granite counter. He wheezed as all the air was knocked out of him and for a second, black spots danced in front of his eyes. To his left, Rua was picking himself up. His jacket was torn and there was blood running down his arms, but he was still alive. But the other part of the house…

"Ruka!" Rua shouted. Where was she? Jack looked around frantically as Rua ran towards the other side of the place.

"Jack!" Rua shouted, his voice rising in fear. "Jack, help!"

He rushed past the ruins of what had once been the kitchen. Rua was right there, sitting on the ground and Ruka—

Jack screamed as his birthmark flared up and searing pain shot through his right arm, all the way to his shoulder. But that wasn't the worst part of it. That would've been okay, that he could have dealt with. What he couldn't deal with was Ruka on the ground, body broken and neck bent at an angle he had never wanted to see, and undoubtedly, utterly, dead.

* * *

 **Trigger warnings:**

Character injury, blood, **major character death**

And so I finally get to use names in Antinomy's POV scenes again. That's clearly the most important thing that happened in this chapter. Clearly.

 **Next chapter:** Sherry makes a vow. Z-one reunites with old friends.


	23. XX - 300 001 Kilometers Per Second

Once more, trigger warnings at the end.

* * *

 **XX. 300 001 Kilometers Per Second**

They got Antinomy and Yusei out with some help from Blade Gunner and Aki's Efflorescent Rose Dragon. It was a miracle, Paradox thought, that they had all made it out more or less in one piece. This part of the Ark was completely in ruins now, but everyone who mattered was still alive, even if Aporia had had to resort to fusing to save his life. Paradox was exhausted, but the Machine Emperors were gone from the Ark. Antinomy was holding his left arm, where he'd suffered a nasty wound, Yusei was limping and glaring at some vague point in the distance, and Aki had dried blood on her face from various cuts, but they were alive. They were all alive. Sherry and Mizoguchi had saved his life. They had actually taken him when he was unconscious, and fortunately he had woken up just in time to help them in return when the Machine Emperors had found their hiding spot.

"We have to help them," Aki whispered. Paradox sobered as he looked down. From their vantage point, he could see Neo Domino City. The city was on fire. The Machine Emperors had descended. Sherry, next to him, stared down, something unreadable in her eyes. Paradox thought it was shock, perhaps.

"Can you shoot them?" she asked.

Paradox hesitated. "Can we?" he asked, looking at Z-one and Aporia. They were the ones who knew the most about the Ark's defense systems.

"I fear the cannons on the Ark are not accurate enough. We cannot target the Machine Emperors without destroying more of the city," Z-one said. Aki swallowed.

"All right. I'm sending Efflorescent Rose Dragon and Black Rose Dragon. Paradox, if you're up for it, I could use help."

Paradox took a deep breath. Could he? He should have felt tired, but actually… He frowned. Actually, he felt pretty great. More awake than he had in a long time, and more powerful too. "I'm sending down Trishula and Dewloren," he told Aki. She nodded and together they watched the monsters disappear. Would it be enough? His Synchro monsters were ill-equipped to fight the Machine Emperors, but with a little bit of luck, they would be able to destroy some of the Ein monsters and save some people. He watched Trishula head for Daedalus Bridge. Efflorescent Rose Dragon headed decisively towards the uptown parts of the city, where Tops was located. There too, he saw explosions. There were still people left there? He had expected their neighbors in Tops to disappear the moment they got wind of the slightest amount of danger.

"Everyone else okay?" Z-one asked. He looked tired. Paradox took stock of the people in the room. Yusei was glaring between Antinomy and Aki. When Paradox met Antinomy's eyes, the latter just shook his head and looked down. He looked shell-shocked. Paradox could wager a pretty good guess as to what had happened when the two of them had been alone. All the more reason to never trust Fudou Yusei near Antinomy. It only ever spelled trouble for everyone involved.

"We're okay," Mizoguchi said. Z-one got a few more nods all around. Paradox stared at his hands. It was amazing how powerful he felt. He had never in his entire life felt something like this, and even his past self hadn't had this much power at his disposal since… Oh. Yeah, that would do it.

The Machine Emperors weren't under his control anymore. For years and years, he had devoted a part of his psychic powers to keeping them locked into the cards. After a while, he didn't even notice the lack of energy anymore. But now that power was back and at his disposal, and it felt like his entire body was thrumming with energy. Like a long-asleep body part that was now waking up again, pins and needles as he got used to the extra power. He had the urge to do something, to help out with something, anything. There was so much he could do now, with the whole of his powers at his command again.

"You're looking chipper," Sherry said. He glanced down at her. Her green eyes sparkled. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling better. Thanks for… Earlier." Sherry and Mizoguchi had saved his life, even though she had been so angry with him. He didn't regret running off, and he would still have rather seen her evacuate than come here on the Ark, but it was… Gratifying? Flattering? No, that wasn't it. It made him happy, like very few things did.

"Yeah, well," Sherry looked away. "I've lost enough people already. Didn't want to lose another one because your unconscious ass couldn't get up."

"Oh." Paradox tried to swallow against the sudden dryness of his throat. That was…

"Yeah." Sherry blushed. "Glad you're okay."

He wanted to reach out to her, but would she appreciate that? He could—

He had just reached out a hand when Aki screamed. Had the Machine Emperors returned? Sherry raised her duel disk and he did the same, but the Ark was as deserted as ever, save for the eight of them. Only Aki… Aki was crying, and Yusei had sunk to the ground. Both of their birthmarks were glowing through the sleeves of their clothes.

"What's wrong?" Antinomy's face was a picture of alarm. "Aki? Is it the Crimson Dragon?"

"No…" Aki whispered. "They can't have…"

Yusei shook his head violently, as if that would drive away whatever specter had appeared. Paradox exchanged an uncomfortable look with Aporia. What was the dragon doing? Nothing good, obviously, but why… Yusei was crying, shaking his head. Antinomy made an aborted gesture towards him, then kneeled down next to Aki.

"What's going on?" he asked again.

"It's…" Aki choked up. "Ruka. I felt it. I—"

"What about Ruka?" Antinomy's voice raised in pitch.

"She's—" Yusei clenched his eyes shut, tears running down his cheeks. "She's dead."

Antinomy's mouth fell open in a wordless cry. Paradox froze. Ruka? The little girl? But she should have evacuated already, shouldn't she? The other Signers should have made sure of it.

"Are you sure?" Z-one asked urgently. He had frozen in place. Sherry looked at the ground.

"She's gone," Aki whispered. "We felt it, she— We should've been there!"

"Rua. Oh god. What about Rua?" Yusei stood up and wandered to the edge of the Ark, as if in a daze. "Where are they?" He looked back at Aki. "Call your dragon back. We need to go there. We have to go back now."

No one said anything. Would it be better if they left? Yeah, probably. But Paradox had not expected the Signers to die. They had always seemed practically immortal. And Ruka, for all that he'd never really talked to her, had probably been one of the more tolerable members of Team 5D's. She had always been polite, if obviously scared of him. She was just a child… How many more children? No, that had been part of the plan, always. He couldn't back out, not when Antinomy looked already on the verge of doing so.

"I'm calling Black Rose Dragon back," Aki whispered. She dabbed at her eyes. "We should've…"

She didn't say anything else. Instead, she stood next to Yusei and the two of them watched, wordless, at the city on fire. Antinomy got up and made to move in their direction, but he stopped at the last second. Sherry was blinking furiously. Mizoguchi fixed him with a quietly accusing look and Paradox looked away. Yeah, this was probably their fault. How many other people had died already? It didn't matter, he told himself. It couldn't matter. That was what they had always told themselves. He wasn't Antinomy. He couldn't care.

Black Rose Dragon appeared out of the smoke floating over the city. Its huge wings were charred, and when it noticed Aki, it cried out pitifully. Aki shook her head, her cheeks wet. "I'm sorry, Black Rose Dragon. We have to go down. We have to find—"

The dragon cried out sharply: a warning. The Ark shook on impact. The floor crumbled under Paradox's feet and Mizoguchi grabbed both him and Sherry and slammed them to the ground. Aki and Yusei stumbled, and Black Rose Dragon used her bulk to push them away from the edge.

"What's going on?" Sherry shouted, her voice muffled by the sound of the Ark collapsing anew. How much more could it take? The Machine Emperors had already greatly damaged its structural integrity. If the planetary gear system got destroyed, they would crash.

Aporia picked himself up. His greater bulk had protected him from damage. Antinomy had not been so lucky; red was once again bleeding through the handkerchief tied around his arm. Paradox himself wasn't feeling so great either. If they got out of this alive, he'd be having a great time dealing with the bruises.

"This is not good," Aporia said. His voice easily carried over the noise. "The City of Neo Domino and the government of Japan have given an official order."

"What official order?" Paradox shouted.

"I have found the official communiqué. The Ark is to be destroyed."

For a second, Paradox couldn't parse the meaning of that. Then Sherry shouted, incredulous, "They're shooting us out of the sky?!"

They were doing what?

"They'll destroy the city," Yusei said. He sounded shell-shocked. The explosions had stopped, if only for a minute, but they would start up soon enough. "If they shoot down the Ark, the city will be destroyed. What are they thinking?"

"Milady, we have to evacuate," Mizoguchi said. He helped Sherry back upright. A second impact rocked the Ark, and they only barely managed to keep their balance. Sherry nodded, her face pale as she looked down at the destruction below.

"The Momentum reactor of the Ark is as of yet uncompromised," said Z-one. "We shall relocate. The reactor is well-protected. It shall not come to harm easily."

"But Ruka…" Aki muttered. She and Yusei had found their footing again. Black Rose Dragon loomed over them, shielding them from damage.

"If you go now, they'll shoot Black Rose Dragon out of the air," Antinomy said tonelessly. "It will not be able to stand up to artillery fire. You will die."

Paradox knew that tone. It was the tone Antinomy used when he completely detached himself from the situation. Purely logical and analytical. Antinomy had once claimed this was Clear Mind, and Paradox would have believed it, if it didn't indicate that Antinomy was in more emotional turmoil than ever.

Aki seemed reluctant to leave, but Black Rose Dragon nudged her. "Yes, yes, you're right," she said. Paradox didn't know if she was talking to Antinomy or the dragon. "We can find another way. We'll find another way."

She turned around abruptly and looked at Z-one. "Show us."

 **oOoOo**

"Ruka!"

Rua struggled as Jack grabbed him and pulled him away. She couldn't be dead. Ruka couldn't be gone. She was a Signer, the Crimson Dragon should have saved her! His sister had survived all those months in a coma. She had survived the Dark Signers. She couldn't die now, not because some tin can thought it could shoot at them!

"Rua, I'm sorry." Jack was crying. Why was he crying? Not like Ruka was dead, right? They could fix this. They had always been able to fix this. She was just unconscious and she'd wake up in just a few seconds.

"Let me go!" He pulled loose and fell to his knees next to Ruka. "C'mon, Ruka, wake up! We have to go!" He turned to Jack. "We have to do something, c'mon! We need to get her to a hospital!"

"Her neck—"

But Jack stopped abruptly when Machine Emperor Grannel appeared above them, in the hole it had shot in the roof. It aimed. Rua threw himself on top of Ruka. If she couldn't move, he'd protect her until she woke up again.

An ear-splitting cry tore through the air, and Machine Emperor Grannel was thrown aside in a whirlwind of icy air. Rua caught the vague shape of a massive dragon. That was Efflorescent Rose Dragon! Everything was going to be okay now, Rua knew it. It would be. It had to be.

"Ruka, see? Aki-neechan's helping us. Come on!"

"Rua…" Jack crouched down next to him. "I'm sorry, but I felt it. She's—"

"No!" It didn't matter what Jack had felt! Rua knew his sister way better than he did and Ruka would never abandon him! They were safe now. Aki-neechan had sent help. They were going to be just fine. He stared down at Ruka's pale face. There was this thing they did on TV, right? With the chest pushing?

He put his hands on top of Ruka's chest and pushed. Nothing happened and he did it again, until he was more thumping on Ruka's chest than pushing. Jack pulled him away.

"Rua, that's not how that works—"

"Then you do it! Tell me what to do!"

"Rua." Jack crouched down next to him and gently pulled him away. "She's dead. I felt it. The Crimson Dragon…"

The only words Rua had for that were words Ruka would scold him for. Ruka wasn't around. Ruka was lying on the ground and the Crimson Dragon couldn't be bothered to save her. It hadn't protected Ruka all those years ago and it had never kept its promises. So Rua said, very clearly: "Fuck the Crimson Dragon."

He closed his eyes tightly to stop the tears from coming. "You hear me? I don't care! I wish you had never existed! You only ruined our lives, you landed Ruka in a coma for so long and now you killed her!"

"Rua!"

Rua rounded on Jack. "I don't care. I don't care what it does to me. It's killed my sister, it's already—" The tears started running. Rua angrily wiped a hand over his face. "It can't do anything worse than that anyway."

You are foolish and reckless, child.

Rua looked around. Jack didn't react. He gritted his teeth. Oh, so now it decided to speak?

Yet you are brave. I have told you so before.

"Get out of my head."

"Rua?" Jack asked. Rua ignored him and looked at the ceiling, or what was left of it. Efflorescent Rose Dragon had disappeared again, and with it the Machine Emperors. Oh, they were safe now, when it was too late, far too late.

It is not too late. I can save your sister.

Rua balled his hands and blinked against the tears blurring his vision. "Then why haven't you done so yet? Why didn't you protect her in the first place? Why do you keep hurting her, over and over and over—" He let out a sob. "Every time. You just keep hurting us again and again and you never do anything to help."

I can help now.

"Then do it, you stupid overgrown lizard!"

Was it Rua's imagination, or did the Crimson Dragon actually laugh? What was it laughing about? What was there to laugh about? Ruka was dead!

I need your help to do so. Will you grant me permission to help her?

Rua paused. What guarantee was there that the Crimson Dragon wouldn't just make things worse? What did a dragon know about humans? But there was no one else and Ruka… Rua risked a glance downwards. His sister was there, her neck bent at that unnatural angle and her eyes wide open. She didn't even look like the Ruka he knew, who would have scolded him for talking to the Crimson Dragon like that. If nothing happened, he'd never hear that Ruka again. He'd be alone…

"Okay, yes, do whatever. Just save her already!"

I thank you.

Rua had expected many things. Searing pain was not one of those things. His right arm was on fire, burning and burning, as if someone— He looked down, and on his arm, there was a mark, something round, something he'd never seen before, and yet he knew, with perfect clarity—

"Rua…" Jack whispered, and Rua felt his confusion. More than that, he felt Crow, and Yusei and Aki and all the Signers. All the Signers except Ruka. But that was okay, because he knew what to do. He knew what the mark represented. He knew it gave him heart and he knew it gave him life. It could give life. It could give Ruka life. He could save her.

He kneeled down next to his sister, ignoring the horrid blank stare in her empty eyes. Instead he put a hand on her shoulder, near her neck where it had been broken and reached out. All the Signers were connected, and Rua could feel the Claw mark of his sister reacting to his touch. It was waiting. Just one word.

And Rua whispered: "Live."

The effect was instantaneous. The Claw mark flared to life, fed by the energy of his own birthmark. Ruka's neck straightened ever-so-slowly and even the bruises all over her body disappeared. Rua felt all of it. He felt the bones reset, he felt the energy suffusing his sister, and he felt, after way too long, the beat of her heart start up again. Even the oxygen deprivation was something he could cure easily. She was alive. Ruka was alive.

Ruka's eyes closed. She convulsed for a second, then calmed down again. Jack crouched down next to him and watched the rise and fall of her chest.

"She's alive," he whispered in awe. "How did you do that?"

Ruka rolled over. She opened her eyes. "Rua?"

"Ruka!" Rua pulled her into a hug. "Oh my god, you're okay. You're okay."

Jack dropped to his knees, hugging both of them. "Thank god," he whispered. "Ruka, how are you feeling?"

"I remember the car getting attacked. Did I get hurt? Where are the Machine Emperors?" She gasped. "Rua, are you a Signer?"

Rua took a deep breath. "Yeah. You died."

"Oh." Ruka blinked a few times and shook her head. "You brought me back to life?"

"I… Yeah." Rua stared at the birthmark burned into his arm. Heart. He was a Signer. He had been wishing for so long to be one, but now that he was, he didn't know how to feel about it. Had it just been an emergency solution? But at least the Crimson Dragon had revived Ruka. Rua could live with that.

He hugged Ruka tightly and Jack tightened his arms around both of them. They were alive. They were okay.

 **oOoOo**

The easiest way to get to the Momentum reactor inside the Ark would have been via the third gear chamber, but that route had been blocked off after Nitro Warrior had made the ceiling collapse to save Antinomy and Yusei. That required them to take the more circuitous —and more dangerous— route that led past the first chamber. Black Rose Dragon was too big to fit the corridors of the Ark without destroying them, so Aki reluctantly let her disappear. She called out Splendid Rose instead. Paradox did the same with Sherry's Chevalier de Fleur. The two monsters were strong enough to defend them if it became needed, but relatively human-sized and as such small enough to pass through the Ark unhindered.

They had only just left when Aki gasped, and Yusei clutched his arm. Their birthmarks were glowing again… Paradox exchanged an uneasy look with Antinomy, who had gone pale. Had someone else died? Was it never going to end? But Aki smiled tremulously and Yusei let out a long sigh.

"Ruka's alive," he said. It was just a whisper, but his relief shone through on his face. "Rua's a Signer and Ruka's alive."

"Oh thank goodness," Antinomy said. He and Yusei looked at each other, but quickly averted eye contact again. Aki was crying, but she was smiling all the while. The Crimson Dragon had saved the little girl. Paradox hadn't been as affected by her death as the Signers and Antinomy, but he still felt relieved. And yet… If the Crimson Dragon could save Ruka, why hadn't it ever saved the many many people who'd died when the Machine Emperors invaded?

It was an old hurt and one he didn't want to dwell on. With their spirits buoyed, they continued making their way through the Ark. But they'd barely made it another fifty meters when another explosion rocked the Ark. How much longer could they hold out? How much longer would the Ark survive and how much damage was being done to Neo Domino City right now? Had the city council really given up on the city? The destruction from the falling debris alone would be catastrophic. The entire city center would be destroyed. Did they really attach so little importance to the city and its inhabitants? And here Paradox thought they were callous. No wonder that the Machine Emperors had appeared in this city before all others. Such a blatant disregard for life… It was nearly unimaginable.

Z-one was leading the way, followed by Aporia. Yusei was trailing a little behind him, which left a gap of a meter or two before Antinomy and Aki followed. They were conversing quietly. Aki glanced at Yusei and looked down, resigned. Antinomy had taken Delta Eagle. **Paradox's own D-Wheel was still at the Momentum reactor and he wasn't sure if Antinomy had made the right decision.** He couldn't ride the D-Wheel here and it was large enough to potentially hinder them. Paradox, Sherry and Mizoguchi made up the tail end of the group. It was only wise. He and Aki were practically the only ones who stood any chance of acting in case of an emergency and Aki was clearly too out of it to react appropriately if the time came. Paradox wondered if he should feel more afraid, but military attacks barely fazed him when compared to the Machine Emperors. Aki and Yusei were living what appeared to be their worst nightmare right now. Paradox had already lived through his today and many many times across the years.

Another attack. This one must have hit the top of the Ark, because the ceiling rumbled and started cracking. Paradox glanced up worriedly. Sherry picked up speed and pushed Antinomy in the back.

"Hurry it up," she gritted out.

"We're almost at the first gear chamber," Paradox whispered to her.

The first gear chamber was entirely intact. Paradox didn't know by what lucky coincidence that had happened, but it made their journey far easier. Yusei dawdled for a few seconds, studying the moving gear below them with a kind of detached curiosity, until Antinomy gently jostled his shoulder and he hurried away with a brief glare at Antinomy. Antinomy sighed, caught sight of Paradox looking at him, and forced a smile. They were not okay. None of them were okay.

The Ark shook and in the distance, Paradox heard the road collapse. The one they had just come from. If that attack had hit a few minutes earlier, they would have been buried under rubble. Paradox shook his head and glanced at Chevalier de Fleur, who was making up the rearguard behind Mizoguchi. No, if worse came to worst, their monsters could protect them. He didn't know Trishula very well yet, but the dragon had already proven its merit, and Chevalier de Fleur was undoubtedly loyal to Sherry.

"It's right up ahead now," he said, for Sherry and Mizoguchi's sake. The Momentum reactor that powered the Ark Cradle was at its very center, connected to the three gear chambers. Technically the chambers were part of it, but only the sun gear was heavily protected. It could keep the Ark aloft for a little while on its own, even if the planet gears stopped functioning for whatever reason. It was their absolute best shot at safety right now and it wouldn't take them much longer to reach it. They would be safe when they got there. It would be fine, or however fine it could be with half of their group thoroughly shell-shocked and the Ark being destroyed by the Japanese army. Neo Domino City had to be destroyed by now, with all the rubble coming down from the Ark. They had to be shooting down entire buildings. The city would not survive. Did that mean they had technically accomplished their goal?

But no, it would never be enough. The people of Neo Domino were still around and their hatred for each other was tremendous. A destroyed city would only increase the tension. The people should have been killed along with it. That was the only way to avoid Paradox's own future.

They left the gear chamber with both Chevalier de Fleur and Splendid Rose covering their exit. The closer they got to the Sun gear and the actual Momentum reactor, the safer they'd be. Unless the army decided to nuke the Ark Cradle, they would be safe from all but the most serious attacks, and Paradox was fairly sure the army didn't even possess nukes and never would. No, they were going to be fine. They would make it to the Sun gear and they would all be fine for just a little bit longer.

"How much further?" Mizoguchi asked, leaning down towards him. He cast worried glances back to where they came from every so often. Was it Paradox's imagination, or had the draft increased? Was the Ark crumbling?

"A few hundred meters, not far," Paradox replied. The Ark was built in concentric circles that had the Momentum reactor as their common center. The walk, though circuitous, hadn't even taken them ten minutes and the Momentum reactor was in sight. Almost there…

Another hit, this one much closer than before. How much of the Ark still remained? The floor beneath them swayed. Paradox grabbed at the wall to keep his balance. Had it been that close? Sherry grabbed his arm and pulled him along with a pointed look upwards. The ceiling above their heads was breaking up, cracks appearing and spreading across the wall like a very twisted spiderweb.

"Hurry!" Aporia shouted from the front. Antinomy grabbed both Yusei and Aki and broke into a run. Paradox looked backwards. Chevalier de Fleur had unsheathed her sword, but what could it do against rubble?

"Run!" Mizoguchi growled. The first piece of concrete fell down, missing Splendid Rose by inches. Oh no. Not now, not when they were so close—

The ceiling came down. Paradox ran, Sherry right beside him. They had to make it, they had to get to the gear chamber. It was almost in sight. A split-second headache told him that Chevalier de Fleur had been caught by the rubble and crushed. That was okay. That was fine. If she and Splendid Rose had been able to buy them time to get to safety, it would be fine. He couldn't summon any of the dragons here and he didn't have time to summon them anyway.

Another part of the ceiling came down, taking the road they had been running on with it. The road started to crumble along with the ceiling. Sherry briefly stumbled when a crack appeared under her feet. Mizoguchi caught her and got her back upright before she could fall, and Paradox pulled her along. They had to get there. Only a few more meters, Z-one was already there…

The Ark collapsed. Paradox got a push in his back and he stumbled, fell and tucked into a roll, dragging Sherry along. They landed in the gear chamber, almost on top of Aki, who had lost her balance as one last, final tremor went through the Ark. They had made it. They had made it to the Momentum reactor. Paradox rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes. They were safe, even if only for a little bit.

Sherry asked, in a very small and quiet voice: "Mizoguchi?"

And Paradox felt the outside air. He sat up gingerly and saw how the entrance had collapsed right behind them, how the hole had to go all the way through the Ark. How it had destroyed the route they had been on mere seconds ago. How Sherry's eyes became blank and unfocused.

How, out of eight people who had begun this trip, only seven had made it to their destination.

 **oOoOo**

Sherry was not okay.

"Mizoguchi?" she heard herself ask. This was a joke, right? Some kind of ill-timed prank. Mizoguchi used to play with her all the time when she was a kid, so surely— He couldn't be gone. He had been right behind her. She looked back. Aki and Yusei were looking at her uneasily. Bruno had frozen in place. Paradox slowly got back up.

"Sherry," he whispered.

"This isn't funny," she said. "You can't do this. This isn't the time."

Paradox crouched down next to her. "Sherry… I'm sorry. I think he's—"

"What? He's what?" She whirled around. Was he crying? How dare he cry, how could he ever understand—

"Gone." Bruno walked up to the wall of rubble blocking the entrance of the Momentum Reactor. "He's gone."

"No." Sherry refused to believe it. She couldn't believe it. Mizoguchi had to be somewhere, even if he was trapped under the rubble… He had pushed her, right before the ceiling collapsed. That meant he was fine, right? If he'd been able to do that? They could still get him out. Paradox… "Get him out," she growled. "Use Chevalier de Fleur, or Trishula, or whatever, I don't care. Get him out!"

"I fear it is impossible," said Z-one, and what did he know? "Behind that wall, there is nothing left of the Ark. It has been destroyed fully."

Gone… Destroyed. If it was gone, Mizoguchi would have… He would have fallen… Her vision blurred. That was impossible. Mizoguchi had always been there. Something as stupid as this couldn't have… Sherry swallowed. It couldn't have killed him, right?

Paradox let out a shuddering breath. Bruno sat down. Behind them, there was only uncomfortable silence. What were they sad for? How dare they be sad?

"Don't you dare cry," she hissed.

"Sherry, he…" Bruno looked down. "He was team. Part of our team."

Sherry laughed. Oh, they thought they had any right to mourn him? Any right at all? If it hadn't been for them, Mizoguchi wouldn't— "You have no right," she spat out. "None whatsoever. Comment osez-vous—" She shook her head. No, they were going to understand her, and they were going to listen. "How dare you even claim you're sad, when you've cost me everything!"

After maman and papan had died, Mizoguchi had always been there. He had always looked after her and helped her. And now… She was alone. She had no one left. Everyone who had ever cared for her, looked after her, loved her, was gone. She blinked furiously. What was she going to do now? What could she do? Neo Domino City was in ruins. Tops was probably destroyed. And sure, she had access to all her accounts and all the money maman and papan had left her. She had so many contacts all across the world. She was so close to Yliaster too, but what did it matter? What did it matter if she won, only to be left all alone on this godforsaken planet? She crumpled, her lip quivering. There was nothing… Nothing…

"I give up," she choked out. She turned around, looked at that creation that was supposed to be Yliaster. "You win. I give up. You've taken maman and papan and you've taken Mizoguchi. I've had enough. I don't care, I'm done."

She stood up very carefully and shouldered her bag. She wasn't going to cry. She couldn't… But her cheeks were already wet, and the sobs got stuck in her throat. She managed to raise her head and look at Aki.

"Can you get me off here? Please."

"Sherry, I'm so sorry…"

"You can't," Paradox cut her off. His voice trembled. "It's too dangerous. They'll kill you."

"I don't care." She didn't. Whether she made it down there or not, who cared? What did it matter?

"Well, I do! Do you think I want to see you die?"

Sherry let out a sob. "You had no problem with it when I was a kid!"

"I didn't know about that! I wouldn't have—"

"So what?" She was outright crying now, her words coming out broken and muffled. "If it hadn't been for you, Mizoguchi would still be alive! Maman and papan would be alive! Why should I care about anything you have to say?"

"We're a team," Bruno said, very softly.

"Not anymore. The WRGP is over."

"Sherry…" Paradox got up. "I'm sorry. We're sorry. We didn't want this to happen, but please, just don't do anything rash, okay?"

"Wow, you're almost making me believe you care, Paradox," Sherry spat. And that was the worst part, wasn't it? She had believed he cared. But he'd run off, and now Mizoguchi was dead all because of him. Because he and Bruno had decided to show up on her doorstep. Because Yliaster had decided to kill her parents. "Va te faire foutre."

"Sherry, do you think Mizoguchi would have—" Yusei said. Bruno looked up sharply.

"Yusei, please shut up and think very hard about what you're going to say," he snapped. Yusei's eyes widened. He shut up.

"Sherry, please," Paradox said again. Sherry turned around. She had that Z-ONE card, didn't she? She could use that to get off this place. Then she was going to rip it into tiny little pieces and she'd… Yeah, what? What was she going to do? She had nowhere to go, no one to help her. Everyone she'd ever considered a friend was in this room, and she didn't even have that anymore. She only had a bunch of gold diggers who wanted to get their hands on her inheritance, a lot of empty buildings around the world, and nothing or no one who actually liked her. No one who loved her. No parents, no family that wanted anything to do with her, no friends, no team, and no Mizoguchi.

And it was that thought that broke something within her. The sobs that had been building up at the back of her throat came out in earnest. She let out a high-pitched keening sound that even hurt herself to listen to. She wrapped her arms around herself to stop the incessant shivering. She was so, so cold. Paradox reached out to her, but she turned away. No. Not again. She'd had enough.

If only the Crimson Dragon would save Mizoguchi like it'd had saved Ruka, but as the minutes ticked by, there was no glow of Aki and Yusei's birthmarks, no sudden reappearance of Mizoguchi. The dragon didn't care about her, she realized with astounding clarity.

And that was it. For the first time, she truly understood the hatred Paradox and Bruno felt for it. For the first time, she felt the same. A sob got stuck in her throat. No. She was done. Whatever happened next, whatever happened to her, she didn't care anymore. The Crimson Dragon had let Mizoguchi die and saved its own Signer instead. It was all so very clear now. She was the leader of Team Chevalier. Knights slew dragons. She knew what to do.

 **oOoOo**

There was only one thing left for it. Z-one stared down at the ruined city. His city. He was causing its destruction and this time it wasn't even on purpose. Antinomy's plan had been good. It had had every hallmark of actually working out, once Martha and the inhabitants of Satellite got involved. And then… It was stupid. It shouldn't have happened. Yusei had only been trying to help everyone by coming up here, but instead the defense forces and the City people had latched onto it as a conspiracy, and Aki's presence hadn't helped matters any.

The Ark Cradle was a dead end. And if the defense forces continued shooting, they'd get their wish after all and the Ark would crash entirely, destroying the entirely city and everything in a 100-kilometer radius. It had to stop. It had to stop and, as Z-one looked at the group of people he'd gathered around him, he knew how it had to be done.

He quietly moved over to the side, where Aporia was keeping a watchful eye over the rest of them. Most of the group had dozed off now that the adrenaline had died down just a little bit. Sherry, in a corner apart. Antinomy and Paradox as close as they dared to go. And Yusei and Aki, in two separate corners of the room. How had even their little group become so splintered? Aporia, who had no need for sleep, was keeping watch, though for what purpose, Z-one didn't know. Were the defense forces to attack again, Aporia's watch wouldn't save them.

"Aporia."

Aporia acknowledged him with a nod.

"There is something I need to take care of," he said slowly. A quick summons brought his deck up. "Please take my deck in case it proves necessary to defend yourself. It is my fault that you were left without one."

He truly regretted giving Aporia the Machine Emperors deck now, but at the time it had seemed like the best option. It had helped Aporia to heal and overcome his fear of them. They had never suspected that Paradox would one day lose control of them. But now Aporia had no more deck and that wouldn't do. Aporia would need to be able to fight whatever came next.

Aporia took the deck with a frown. "What about you?"

"I will be fine for now. It is more important that you are well-protected." His gaze strayed to Antinomy and Paradox. They both appeared fast asleep, but Z-one knew them better than that. They would be wide awake the second something happened. Aporia followed his look and settled on Fudou Yusei, asleep in a corner against a wall, far removed from everyone else.

"He is very unhappy."

Z-one understood. He understood far more intimately than he liked to think about. Combining City and Satellite had been Yusei's lifework. Seeing it all ruined unintentionally by the very plan they'd created without his knowledge had to hurt. No wonder he was isolating himself from everyone else. But it didn't matter right now. There would be other opportunities to, just perhaps, save their future.

"Don't look back," he told Aporia. It had become their mantra for a great many things. Don't look back.

"We should give up on the Ark?"

"Yes." Z-one looked back out over the city. "Destroying Neo Domino City now will do no good. The chaos is already too great. The city's destruction will not serve as a warning, but as a sign to other divided cities and countries to maintain the divide. Another way must be found."

They often tried many iterations of their plans, but every once in a while, one of those plans was so disastrous or so ineffectual that it made no sense to try it again. Don't look back. Just abandon it altogether.

"If you feel it's the best course."

"I do." Z-one took one look at the sleeping Antinomy and Paradox. So young they were now, mere children. Then he nodded at Aporia. "Do be careful, old friend."

"And you." Aporia was scrutinizing him. Z-one was glad for the mask that hid his feelings. He moved away from Aporia and deeper into the Ark, towards the central Momentum reactor. The Ark was too heavily damaged to take it out of time again and they did not have the means or, ironically, time, to repair it. Certainly he could just turn the reactor off, but that would still result in the fall of the Ark and destruction of the inner city. The destruction radius would not be nearly as large, but the deaths of those caught underneath it would be far slower and more painful. It was not what he wanted.

Z-one reached the reactor and contemplated it. It had been such a long time. He had to be over a hundred years old now, though how old, he couldn't tell. He had lost track a long time ago, perhaps even before they started traveling through time. He was tired.

The footsteps behind him gave Yusei away long before the man actually appeared next to him. Z-one barely acknowledged him, focused as he was on the Momentum reactor. Yusei remained a tense presence to his left.

"What are you doing?"

Ah, the question Aporia hadn't wanted to ask. "I have something to take care of," Z-one said once more.

"What?"

Instead of replying, Z-one turned away from the reactor and towards the entrance he'd just come from. "They will start shooting again soon enough. You should all evacuate."

"To where? Back to Neo Domino? You fucked up that one real nice for us, they'll arrest us the moment we set foot! Who knows what happened to Jack and Crow, maybe they've already arrested them and then they're gonna rot in prison for the rest of their lives! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I sincerely regret this turn of events. It was not my intention and I will attempt to spare Neo Domino from any further harm."

"Oh, so no more destroying the city? What happened to Neo Domino being the root cause of all of your problems?"

"It is," Z-one said easily. Yusei's face hardened even further. "But merely because it was the first city where the Momentum reactor went out of control. Antinomy was right: if not Neo Domino, another city will take its place. The Ark is no longer a viable solution."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Prevent it from falling."

He turned back to the reactor. Merely stopping it would be no use. The Ark had to disappear. But once it had materialized, it took far more than simply throwing a switch to get it to disappear again. He'd need to control the Momentum inside of it. And to do that… He hadn't been able to use Clear Mind in a very very long time. He found himself unsure whether he could do it now.

"Z-one, what are you going to do?" A note of panic had now crept through the anger in Yusei's voice.

"You need to look after them," Z-one said. "I have made mistakes, not the least of which was erasing parts of my friends' memories without their knowledge. I never should have put Antinomy and Aporia in the positions they were in."

The corners of Yusei's eyes tightened when he mentioned Antinomy. Z-one sighed. How it pained him to see them like this when they had been so close before. "You must not blame him. He did what he thought was best."

"That's rich, coming from you."

Z-one didn't deny it. "Then at least give him the chance to explain."

Yusei said nothing. Z-one went back to scrutinizing the Momentum reactor. "They are young, Antinomy and Paradox especially. However much I like to pretend otherwise—"

"Paradox insisted that he was the same as the original Paradox."

"He is and he isn't. Never doubt the memories they hold, Yusei. They are part of us and they define us. Paradox and Antinomy remember everything the original Paradox and Antinomy lived through, and it has made them into the people they are today. For better or for worse, our history makes us who we are."

"But?"

"I have tried to deny it. Losing my friends was a worse blow than anything the Machine Emperors had managed to inflict on us in several decades. I was happy to see them brought back. The bodies were different, I told myself, but the mind was the same. But they're not. Their experiences have shaped them as much as ours shaped us. They were children who grew up in a torn world. It was cruel. We had no other choice."

Yusei stared ahead, looking thoughtful. "Paradox said they were copies. Are they like Aporia?"

"Paradox and Antinomy were cloned from the original Paradox and Antinomy. They were kept in stasis until adulthood and implanted with the memories of the originals."

"So why isn't Aporia?"

"By the time Aporia joined us, growing another clone would have taken too long. It took nearly twenty years to create these. And Aporia wished for more power, more influence, so he would never have to watch helplessly as his loved ones died." Z-one let out a bitter laugh. "I wish I could say it was successful. You should step back now. Controlling the flow of Momentum is not easy."

"Is that what you're going to do?"

"I will attempt to use Clear Mind to do so. It has not been accessible to me in a very long time."

"Why not?" Yusei asked. Z-one almost smiled. Right. To have the Ark disappear and transport all its passengers to a safer time, he'd need all of his concentration. So that meant he needed to get one more pressing issue out of the way. Perhaps it was only fitting that Fudou Yusei be the one here right now.

"Have you wondered why after cloning Paradox and Antinomy, I never cloned myself?"

"It did cross my mind."

"I did listen to you earlier, Yusei. And I have always listened to Antinomy and Paradox, and Chiasma when she was around. They were my closest counsel and yet I could not always accept their advice. So as to why I didn't clone myself?" Z-one unlocked the reactor, baring its inner workings. "Perhaps I was afraid of who I'd see in that tube."

"Z-one…" Yusei reached out a hand towards him. Z-one shook it off.

"Good luck, Yusei. Perhaps you'll succeed where I failed. You seem a lot better adjusted than I ever was, at least."

"Wait, I'll—"

"Go back to the others. Look after them. Do not let them come here. They deserve another chance."

Yusei shook his head. "So do you!"

So young. So different. "Ah Yusei, haven't we always been the ones jumping at the chance to protect everyone? Why would that change now?"

And without waiting, he entered the reactor, closing it before Yusei could get any bright ideas about following him. This was his job. This was his way to protect Antinomy and Paradox and Aporia, and perhaps give all the friends he'd lost along the way another chance at life. Time was most definitely changing. He just needed to keep that change going, even if he wouldn't be there to see it.

Momentum was all around him, comforting even in its reversed form. Almost unbelievable that it had caused such harm. He had always felt a certain comfort in it that he'd been quick to deny after the rise of the Machine Emperors. He had come too far for denial now. Momentum was intrinsically connected to him and he could control it. He could make it take the Ark far away from this timeline and this city. His city. He had been born here, had lived here all his life. Seeing it crumble hurt. But perhaps he could still salvage it and give it a better future.

He focused, trying to recall the feeling of Clear Mind. There were no D-Wheels here to help him, but perhaps the flow of Momentum would have much the same effect. His mind had not been clear in a very long time. Talking to Yusei and confronting the face of his past had brought him closer than he had been in decades. Now all that was left… He reached out. The Time Lords he'd used as his primary deck for years now were a manifestation of overconfidence and eventual irony. But there were other cards he'd kept, cards whose voices he couldn't ever remember hearing, and yet they felt so familiar… A trio of dragons, each one more powerful than the one before it. They were the key to all of this.

"Please hear me," he said, a plea he hadn't uttered in years. No reaction. It should not have been a disappointment, but it was.

"I am Fudou Yusei. Please hear me."

Again, nothing. Z-one shuddered against the onslaught of Momentum. It would be so easy to let himself get lost in here. Drift away from everything that had ever bothered him, just let everything play out the way it did before…

A sudden gust almost knocked him over. His hand short-circuited; he lost his grasp on the cards and grasped after them in a desperate attempt to regain them. He caught two of them, the strongest ones. The last one drifted off aimlessly before he could recapture it. For a moment, he was at a loss. That one card had been the most important one of all, the one that had been with him since childhood. It tore at him, and for a moment he felt like he was seeing clearer than he had in years. The past was laid out in front of him. Fudou Yusei was a part of his past, a past he'd locked off tightly for years and had never come to terms with. He would have to now. He had changed, he had reformed himself, and he'd survived.

It was all becoming clear now.

"Please hear me," he called again. "I am Z-one and I need your help."

And now, for the first time, he got a reaction. The dragon, the one created by Clear Mind, took on form in front of him. It was barely visible, still little more than an outline, but he was getting here. "I need to save my friends," he continued. "You have not helped me in a long time. I am no longer the person you used to know. But I beg you, please help me."

The form of Shooting Star Dragon grew more solid. It felt like being reunited with a long lost friend. His mind was clearer than it had ever been before. It looked down at him, poised as if it was uncertain whether to help him or attack him. But he knew it. It had supported him before and it would do so now.

Shooting Star Dragon's power would be more than sufficient to put a halt to the Momentum reactor, but that was not why he'd come here. For his true purpose, he needed the third dragon he'd held onto all these years.

"Cosmic Blazar Dragon, will you help me?"

Talking to spirits had never been his strong suit. But at that moment, he felt Cosmic Blazar Dragon's presence, a warm, fierce glow so different from Momentum. It would protect. It would change. Cosmic Blazar Dragon appeared, usurping Shooting Star Dragon and taking on solid form.

Long ago, when they'd still had the resources available, Z-one had dabbled in astrophysics. Their current version of time travel was not based on it, but he still remembered blazars and the black holes at their center. Cosmic Blazar Dragon would be able to take the Ark away from Neo Domino City, destroy its remnants and transport everyone on it to a safer place. Here in Momentum, he would not survive the destruction. But that was okay. That was more than fine.

"Can you do it?" he asked the dragon. The dragon merely nodded. It was enough. It was all he needed to know.

His life, in all its myriad shapes and identities, would end here. He had told Aporia not to look back. They would not prevent his death this time. Z-one smiled.

"Let's save this city one more time, old friend."

END OF ACT FOUR

* * *

 **Trigger warnings:**

 **Major character deaths**

 **Next chapter:** Not exactly what they call 'slow news week'.

So, real talk for a moment. We've reached the halfway point and this fic will be going on hiatus after next chapter. I can't tell you for how long. I am currently aiming to post the second half of this story starting at the start of the new year and I hope I will make it, but I can't guarantee it. I am so so happy with the response I've been getting for this story. It is my darling and I will finish it come hell or high water. Thank you all so much for bearing with me!

This fic may go on hiatus, but I will be posting content in this universe in the meantime, so keep an eye out!

And because I feel like I don't say it enough, any kind of comments or questions are always welcome! Also feel free to come talk to me on my Tumblr or Twitter! (Both as Heleentje).


	24. Intermission IV: Headlines

**Intermission IV: Headlines**

By order of the Neo Domino City Board of Directors

and

Neo Domino City Sector Security

 **the people mentioned hereafter are charged with terrorism and crimes against the City of Neo Domino:**

Atlas, Jack

Di Velia, Leander

Fudou Yusei

Hogan, Crow

Izayoi Aki

José

Kant, Timothy

Leblanc, Sherry

Mizoguchi Matsuyama

Plácido

Should you see any of these individuals, please contact Sector Security immediately by dialing the emergency number **110**. DO NOT under any circumstances attempt to confront them yourself. They are suspected armed and extremely dangerous. Anyone found aiding any of the above people will be charged with obstruction of justice.

Signed,

In name of the Neo Domino City Board of Directors

Sagiri Mikage

In name of Neo Domino City Sector Security

Ushio Tetsu

* * *

 **Missing Person Notice**

 **Rua | Ruka | Lucciano**

 **LUCCIANO**

Age 11

Missing from:

Neo Domino City

147 cm/red hair/green eyes

Last seen on the Ark Cradle in the company of Team New World, presumed kidnapped.

 **RUA**

Age 12

Missing from:

Neo Domino City - Tops

145 cm/green hair/green eyes

Twin brother of Ruka (see below). Last seen in the company of Team 5D's, presumed kidnapped.

 **RUKA**

Age 12

Missing from:

Neo Domino City - Tops

145 cm/green hair/green eyes

Twin sister of Rua (see above). Last seen in the company of Team 5D's, presumed kidnapped.

 **If you have any information on the whereabouts of these children, please contact police on the emergency number 110.**

 **DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONTACT THEM. They are not presumed to be in immediate danger, but may be** **sympathetic to the cause of their presumed kidnappers and might alert them of the police's presence.**

* * *

 **Mass upset at the World Riding Grand Prix! Team Taiyou declared winner!**

NEO DOMINO CITY The prestigious World Riding Grand Prix, organized to celebrate the reunion of the two parts of the city that were torn apart during the catastrophic events of twenty years ago, colloquially known as Zero Reverse, was interrupted last Friday by the descent of a massive structure that was identified as Ark Cradle soon after. What seemed like a supernatural occurrence at first was found on Monday evening to be the work of semi-finalists Team New World, aided by their fellow semi-finalist teams Team 5D's and Team Chevalier.

In light of these revelations, the aforementioned teams were all disqualified from the tournament, leaving Team Taiyou as the only team still standing and the rightful winners of the World Riding Grand Prix. An arrest warrant has been released for all members of the other three teams.

When asked for comment on their dark horse win of the tournament, Team Taiyou refused, only stating that they hadn't expected their opponents to resort to such tactics.

* * *

 **Riots break out in historic center, Sector Security mobilize troops, ask for assistance of Tokyo Metropolis**

NEO DOMINO CITY Late last night, mass riots have broken out in the now-destroyed historic city center of Neo Domino City. Demonstrators of the mainland part of Neo Domino City ran afoul of rioting groups from the island formerly known as Satellite. Sector Security members have tried to separate both factions with little success, and have now asked for assistance of Tokyo Metropolitan Police to get the fighting under control.

Believed to be the cause of the fighting is last Monday's upset, when it was revealed that three out of four WRGP semi-finalist teams were responsible for the appearance of the structure called Ark Cradle and its destruction of the Neo Domino City center. Many demonstrators believe Team 5D's in particular to be the cause of the current unrest, a belief shared by Sector Security. The main riders of Team 5D's, Jack Atlus, Crow Hogan and Fudou Yusei, all grew up on the Satellite island. In light of these circumstances, evidence has emerged of a conspiracy against the City. The rioting Satelliters deny this and disavow having anything to do with the aforementioned duelists.

* * *

And so we reach the end of part one. Like I said last week, I will go on hiatus for a while now and I'm hoping to resume posting by New Year's. Things will be kicking in even higher gear from here on out.

Thank you to everyone who's supported this fic so far! There will be supplemental material at random moments and I'll see you all in a few months!


	25. XXI - A Future Ruined

**XXI. A Future Ruined**

One second there was Z-one, and the Momentum reactor, and the Ark falling apart all around them. The next… light. Blinding light that poured through even when Yusei closed his eyes, then a rush of wind and the sudden feeling of being off-balance. Yusei stumbled and fell, expecting to feel the tiled floor of the Ark Cradle beneath him, but instead he found earth. He blinked rapidly to get rid of the white spots dancing in front of his eyes and tried to focus.

Through watering eyes, he could make out a bright blue sky. A second look, once his vision cleared up, revealed a wide stretch of land covered in grass and weeds. In the distance, he thought he could see buildings. Where the hell was he?

"Yusei? Yusei!"

Aki? Yusei turned around to see her running towards him. Behind her, the rest of the group was slowly catching up. They were still in the same relative position they'd been on the Ark Cradle, but the Ark itself was gone, and so was Neo Domino. What had Z-one done?

"What happened? Where are we?" Aki asked when she reached him. She refrained from touching him, coming to a stop an awkward few feet away from him. Yusei didn't reply right away, looking past her at the rest of the group. Aporia stood to the side, looking around and undoubtedly searching for Z-one. Yusei hadn't caught all of their conversation, but he'd been woken up by Z-one and Aporia talking.

"Where's Z-one?" Aporia inevitably asked mere seconds later. Antinomy and Paradox both looked around, alarmed. Aporia looked at Yusei. His eyes narrowed.

"Where's Z-one?" he said again. "What did you do?"

Why did everyone always think he'd done something? "Nothing!" Yusei protested. "Z-one—"

But how to explain it when he barely understood what had happened either? Z-one had said he'd stop the Ark and the next moment they were here. "He said he was going to stop the Ark from falling."

"No…" Aporia took out a deck—hadn't he lost his?— and stared at it. Antinomy and Paradox drew nearer.

"Aporia, what happened?" Antinomy asked. Aporia remained mute for several charged seconds, during which Yusei looked around helplessly. Aki was at a loss, taking in the new environment with ill-concealed unease. Sherry was looking straight ahead into the distance, much like she had been before.

"Z-one gave me his deck. Said I should use it to protect myself and that he needed to go do something. Told me not to look back."

That last bit, inexplicably, got the most reaction out of Antinomy and Paradox. Antinomy froze up. Paradox kicked at the ground.

"He didn't." He whirled on Yusei. "Tell me he didn't!"

Yusei almost wanted to back down in the face of Paradox's anger, but he gathered himself. "Z-one went into the Momentum Reactor. He said he was going to use Clear Mind to stop it."

"That fucking idiot!"

Antinomy turned his head away.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Aki said in a small voice.

"He fucking sacrificed himself to send us back!" Paradox shouted. "How could he?!"

"He said it was for the best." Aporia looked anguished. "He said we should give up on the Ark Cradle."

Antinomy threw his hands in the air and took off at a brisk pace away from the group. Paradox made an abrupt motion with his hand. In the distance, something exploded.

"Idiot," he muttered again, and to Yusei's astonishment, he heard Paradox's voice breaking. "Self-sacrificial idiot, why's it always the same with you?"

Yusei didn't reply. He stood around awkwardly, torn between doing like Antinomy had done and walking away to get his thoughts in order or trying to find out where exactly they were. Aki looked much the same. Sherry was no help.

"Where did he send us to?" Aki asked in a small voice.

"The future, obviously." Those were the first words Yusei had heard from Sherry in a long time. Her voice was hoarse and she was still looking straight ahead. "So is this you mythical ruined world?"

Paradox took a deep breath. "Yes," he said, voice carefully controlled. "I don't know the exact date, but we are most certainly in your future. Long after the Machine Emperors have perished." He gestured at the ruined skyline in the distance. "That is Neo Domino."

Aki gasped. Yusei clenched his hands so tightly he could feel his nails through the leather of his gloves. Neo Domino. He'd gone from one city in ruins to that very same city, only ruined in a different way in a different time. Was there really no way to save it?

Antinomy returned, looking slightly less dazed now. He turned to Delta Eagle, which had miraculously survived the trip and was parked next to Paradox's D-Wheel a few meters away from them. "It's July 2116… The 17th," he read. "Almost three in the afternoon." He straightened up and addressed the group at large. "We died about five years ago, so our base is empty now. We shouldn't stay out here."

Paradox scoffed. "It's the middle of the day."

"Still." Antinomy started walking, not looking if anyone was following him. Yusei was loath to trust him now, but he had no other choice. He was almost a hundred years in the future and he knew nothing about this world. The Machine Emperors might be gone, but that didn't mean there weren't any other predators.

All too soon, they reached what looked like the entrance of what had once been an industrial compound. Yusei frowned and looked up at the sun for a way to orient himself. The place looked familiar. For a moment, he saw it bustling with life, Neo Domino ahead of him and the Ark Cradle floating over it.

"… Is this Momentum Express?"

Antinomy cast him a sideways look. "It used to be."

Paradox and Aporia walked past them and took the lead along with Antinomy. Sherry dragged behind. Paradox threw her a worried look and made to slow down, but Aki got there before him. The fire in Sherry's eyes was honestly scaring Yusei, but the rest of her movements was dulled, almost zombie-like.

"We're here," Aporia announced after another five minutes of walking. He stopped in the middle of an empty field surrounded by the ruins of shot-down buildings. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Aporia's eyes glowed and a screen appeared in front of him. He, Antinomy and Paradox all put their hands on it.

Within seconds, the ground underneath their feet shifted and slid apart, revealing a staircase that led straight down into the darkness. The hatch was wide enough to easily manoeuvre Antinomy's and Paradox's D-Wheels through. The three men went down and Yusei, Aki and Sherry followed reluctantly.

The moment they'd entered, Aporia's eyes glowed again. The hatch closed and for a second, they were shrouded in complete darkness. Then lights came on all around them and Yusei could see the long staircase down towards what had to be a series of underground tunnels. Had those always been there?

Antinomy must have read his mind. "The tunnels hadn't been completed yet when we found the place, but the structural integrity was sound. We've been expanding upon it for years. The technology left in Momentum Express was essential for our time travel research, even though it didn't always go well."

He touched the back of his head. Aporia and Paradox both winced, though Yusei had no idea for what.

"This is where you lived?" Aki asked. Antinomy nodded as they reached the bottom of the staircase. Another door was unlocked easily by Paradox and then they were inside the actual building. The door behind them seemed to be made of weapons-grade steel, probably made to withstand any and all attacks from the Machine Emperors. The doors in front of him were a lot flimsier, though they too were more reinforced than your average kitchen door.

"Home sweet home," Paradox called out bitterly. He wiped away some dust. "You'd think that with the place hermetically closed off, there wouldn't be any dust."

"You're not getting out of the chore list again," Antinomy said with a forced chuckle. Paradox didn't laugh. Antinomy looked away.

"So now what? If Z-one said to give up on the Ark…"

"I thought you'd be happy about that?" Sherry said. Yusei startled. She was so quiet lately that he almost kept forgetting about her presence.

"I am," said Antinomy. Yusei gritted his teeth. Hadn't it been Antinomy's plan in the first place to use the Ark to get the City and Satellite working together without their knowledge? And now he was here claiming he wanted nothing to do with the Ark? Goddamn hypocrite.

"We need another plan," Aporia said. "We now know the reason why Neo Domino's Momentum Reactor went out of control a second time. But we cannot prevent the separation of the City and Satellite; that is tied to Zero Reverse. We've never been able to change anything about that."

Yusei was tired of all this. He was tired of hearing how his own city had caused the destruction of the world. How his parents' invention was responsible for the suffering and eventual destruction of the entire human race. No wonder Z-one'd said he was tired. He really didn't want to think about any of it.

"How about we sleep first and regain our senses," he said, trying to make his words into a suggestion and not an excuse to get as far away from the whole lot of them as possible. To his surprise, Sherry backed him up.

"Sounds great. I don't want to see any of your faces right now."

Of course, she was a lot less tactful about it than he had tried to be.

"I'll show you the way," Paradox told her. Sherry nodded wordlessly, shouldered her bag and followed him, leaving Yusei standing between the rest of them. He looked around. They probably wouldn't appreciate it if he went around wandering the place on his own.

"There's a free room in that hallway," Antinomy said, monotone. "Third door on the right."

Yusei nodded and left without a word. As he left, he saw Aki turn towards Antinomy to ask something. It stung. He was very far from home right now and the people he'd thought he could trust had turned out to be far less so than he'd ever imagined. Jack and Crow were still in Neo Domino ninety years in the past. He truly hoped he'd see them again soon and yet, the way he'd left Neo Domino behind, he wasn't so sure.

 **oOoOo**

The Ark was gone. The Ark was gone with Yusei and Aki on it, and Crow knew they weren't dead, but they were nowhere to be seen and what if they got hurt? They could be badly hurt and he'd have no way of knowing. All his calls had failed. It wasn't just that they didn't pick up, the numbers didn't even exist. He'd tried calling Yusei, he'd tried calling Aki, he'd even tried calling Bruno and got nothing.

He groaned and Jounouchi-san, who had been driving him around when everything had gone wrong, clenched the steering wheel more tightly.

"So stupid," he growled over the radio, now once more broadcasting news continuously. The picture it painted was not pretty. "How could they have done this? They've destroyed the city!"

He wasn't wrong. Whoever had given the order to shoot the Ark out of the sky had only added to the destruction the Machine Emperors' short-lived invasion had caused. The inner city of Neo Domino was in ruins and the people on the streets were in no shape to help anyone. If not for the sudden disappearance of the Ark, the damage would have been even worse. He could only hope the twins were safe now. Ruka's death… It had been one of the scariest moments in his life, the moment he'd thought that this time they were done for, this time they wouldn't make it out alive, their luck had finally caught up with them.

But she was still alive. That much he still knew. Rua was a Signer and Ruka was alive. They had all survived. Neo Domino could rebuild. It would have to rebuild. They could do this. As soon as Aki and Yusei returned, they would just all tackle this together somehow—

"—Council is calling for the arrest of Team New World, Team Chevalier and Team 5D's. If spotted, please do not approach, individuals are highly dangerous. Wanted people include—"

Crow stared at the radio as it droned on. He continued staring as it mentioned the names of Team New World, and then Team Chevalier, and then his own team. Yusei, Jack, himself, Aki. This wasn't right. They'd been trying to help! They'd wanted to save the city, not destroy it!

He'd already been arrested so many times. He'd thought that was finally all behind him. And the kids, oh god, the kids. What if they were held responsible for his actions? What if Security came after them? He had to go find them, he had to cross Daedalus Bridge and get to Satellite. He unbuckled his seatbelt. He had to—

"Crow," Jounouchi-san said. "We'll help you, but you can't go out on the streets now. Have you called Jack?"

Crow breathed in and dialed Jack's number. At least this one was working. Jack picked up after five seconds that felt like an eternity.

"Crow! Where did they go? Are you safe?"

"No idea. I'm with Jounouchi-san, you? Where are the twins?"

"They're safe. I sent them home. I'm hotwiring a car."

Sounded fair. What was one more crime when they were already wanted for something far worse?

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Can he come to Kaiba Corp?" Jounouchi-san asked. Crow relayed the question. Jack laughed bitterly.

"From Tops right through the city center? You heard the news, right?"

Yeah, that was a no. Jounouchi-san steered them past a blockade and Crow ducked down, hoping that the Kaiba Corp logo on the side of the truck would be enough to stop Security from pulling them over.

"Tell him to stay put. I'm calling Mokuba to send someone over," Jounouchi-san said. Crow bristled. Just tell Jack to stay put and wait for Security to find him?

"Trust us, please. Five minutes. If Mokuba can't get someone there in five minutes, tell Jack to do whatever he thinks best."

Crow grit his teeth and told Jack the news. Jack didn't say anything for several seconds. Crow heard the engine of a car start up.

"I want news in two minutes," he said at long last. "If not, I'm leaving. It's Tops, it's gonna be crawling with Security here."

"Agreed." Crow nodded. "Two minutes. If not, Jack's leaving."

Jounouchi-san didn't seem perturbed by that. Neither was Kaiba-san when they called.

"Two minutes? Yeah, I have someone in the vicinity. Tell Jack he'll be there. Blue truck, license plate Ha 20-51. His name's Chen Huiliang."

Jounouchi-san nodded in satisfaction and hung up. Jack, having followed the conversation, grumbled a brief confirmation. Crow pulled a face.

"Rich people, I swear."

Jounouchi-san laughed. "Right? You should've seen his brother, he was even worse than Mokuba. But it's pretty damn useful, times like these."

"What's to say you're not handing us over to Security? Why trust us?" Sure, Yusei had met Mutou-san and Yuki-san, but that was decades ago for them and Yuki-san wasn't even around anymore. Crow had no love lost for Kaiba Corp. They hadn't been there after Zero Reverse either.

"We have been working on this for decades," Jounouchi-san said. "I trust Yugi. If he says it's okay, then it's okay. Besides," he gave Crow a wry smile. "I don't think you would've gone without sleep for a week to keep the city powered just so you could destroy it. You're good people, the lot of you. You weren't the fucking idiots who tried to shoot the Ark out of the sky and destroyed the place in the process."

God, the City. Crow hadn't even been able to take in the full scope of the destruction. From the constant blathering on the radio, it was the inner city center that had been hit the worst, while the outer suburbs and Satellite had escaped relatively unscathed. He gave it another ten minutes before someone tried to use that as evidence for a Satellite conspiracy as well. What a fucking mess.

Crow wasn't exactly sure how, but they arrived at Kaiba Corp in one piece and without being stopped by Security a mere ten minutes later. Jack, accompanied by a Kaiba Corp employee who was summarily dismissed, entered another fifteen minutes after that. He looked a little worse for wear, but thankfully alive. Crow had never been so happy to see him again. At least there was still someone here in this damn place that he knew and trusted.

"The twins?" he muttered.

"Home. Should be fine," said Jack. His face told Crow that he had his doubts about that. The twins' parents had never been a shining model of parenting, but at least they'd be looked after. They were far too young to get caught up in this mess.

"Right," Kaiba-san said, clapping his hands together. "I don't think this went the way any of us wanted it to go, but at least we have power again. Jack-kun, Crow-kun, Security will probably come looking for you. We're happy to keep you here but I fear my employees might not be so keen on that." He made a face. "Is there anywhere you think you'd be safe?"

"Martha," Jack said immediately. Crow wanted to agree so badly. He wanted to go home. But it was too dangerous. He shook his head.

"Jack, no. Ushio and Mikage know her, they'll look for us there. The kids…" he swallowed. He just couldn't get them caught up in all of this. Jack sighed, suddenly looking small.

"I suppose you're right."

"Anywhere else?" Kaiba-san asked. They shook their heads.

"They can come with us," Mazaki-san said. Mutou-san nodded in agreement.

"We still have the shop. Security won't be looking for them with us."

"Good plan." Kaiba-san nodded at them. "That okay with you?"

Staying with the King of Games? Any other day, and they would have been ecstatic. If only they had any idea about everyone else… But Crow nodded. It'd have to do. Until they found everyone else again, it was the best idea they had.

 **oOoOo**

It took until the rumbling of his stomach got too much even for him before Yusei found the energy to venture out of the room he'd chosen. It was a small room, barely large enough to house a bed. It had probably been an office once. He made it to what he'd come to think of as the common area and found everyone else already there. They looked up when they saw him enter, but no one said anything and Yusei felt no need to break the silence.

There was something that looked like a kitchen attached to the room. No one stopped him when he entered, so he helped himself to the food in the fridge. He'd had better. He'd also had worse.

"What are we going to do?" Aki asked after Yusei had already long finished his food. They'd sat in uncomfortable silence for fifteen minutes, no one willing to speak up or leave.

"We are going to go back and try to fix this mess again," Paradox said. Yusei refused to point out that that mess was their fault in the first place. "I don't care what you are going to do. You can go back to Neo Domino. We'll handle this."

"Oh, so you're gonna make plans without us again?" Yusei spat. Antinomy shook his head.

"Yusei, seriously, go back home. There's no point in you staying here."

"How many times do I have to say this?" Yusei said. "I want to help. I've offered since the beginning and if you'd let me, maybe we'd actually get somewhere without getting in each other's way."

Antinomy and Paradox exchanged looks, then both looked at Aporia, who shook his head.

"We have to tell them sooner or later," Antinomy said, mouth pulling into a grimace. Aporia shrugged and Paradox glanced at Sherry, who stared back defiantly. Antinomy gestured at a table.

"Before you decide on anything, you have to listen, and I mean that," he said. "Sit down, please. We need to tell you about time travel."

Time travel? The way they'd made it look, it seemed fairly straightforward. Go back in time, change things, hopefully come back to a better future. Yusei bit his lip. But there had to be more to it, hadn't there? The physics alone were mind-boggling…

"Time is… Linear. A vector, if you will. It goes in one direction and one direction only, and most people are carried along with it at a rate of one second per second."

Yusei nodded. "So the progression of time is a dimensionless quantity."

"Yeah." Antinomy tilted his head. Aporia waved a massive hand.

"Doesn't matter."

"You're right." Antinomy ran a hand through his hair. "So every once in a while you get people or creatures who can deviate from that path. Take a detour, slow down a bit, stop to check out the sights…"

"Yeah, we get that. What's your point?" Sherry said.

"The good news is, once you've traveled through time, you're not bound by its rules anymore. Whatever you do in the past won't threaten your existence in the present. I could go back and shoot my past self in the head and I still wouldn't disappear—I wouldn't recommend it, though."

Yusei thought of Z-one, and of the time Antinomy had apparently killed him. He didn't want to find out how true that statement was.

"So if we can't erase ourselves, then what's the problem?" Aki asked. "You've been so reluctant to let us travel back to the past with you, but it can't actually harm us, can it?"

"Not physically, no," Paradox said. Yusei frowned.

"Does time travel affect your mind or something?"

"Not in the way you think, Yusei." Antinomy sighed. "Look, if you travel through time, you're not bound by causality anymore, but the rest of the world still is. That includes your younger selves."

"Meaning?" Sherry asked.

"Meaning that if you travel back in time and undo the reason why you went back in the first place, your younger self won't have any reason to go back in time. They will remain where they are. You can't take their place because there won't be a free place to take."

"I don't get it," Aki said, her voice trembling. "We can't go back?"

"If you come with us and we succeed, you can't go back to Neo Domino. There will be no place for you there." Antinomy took a deep breath. "There will be an Izayoi Aki and a Fudou Yusei there, but it won't be this you, and unless you can somehow convince the entire world that there are two of you now, you can't ever live there again."

"Leave Neo Domino?" Yusei blinked hard. "But we can't leave… We belong there, right? It's where we've always lived."

"And so has the Fudou Yusei who never went back in time," said Paradox. "Don't you get it? You'll have to give up your place in Neo Domino. All the people you know, all the people you've ever met… Unless they're time travelers themselves, they won't remember you. They'll only remember this other version of Fudou Yusei, and seeing you will just freak them out."

"That's what's waiting for you if you come with us. We can't change that," Antinomy said softly. Aki toyed with the sleeve of her sweater, eyes downcast. Yusei looked up at the ceiling. Never go back to Neo Domino? But he'd grown up there… Everything he knew and all the work his parents had done was in Neo Domino. He couldn't just abandon it! Maybe Antinomy was wrong. Maybe they just hadn't tested this properly. There had to be a way—

"I could go back when I fought you," he told Paradox abruptly. Aki gasped in realization. "Everyone was waiting for me to come back. There was no other me."

"Because you didn't undo the reason why you traveled back in the first place."

"We defeated you!"

"Think!" Paradox made a disgusted noise. "I know you're smarter than this. Why did you go back?"

"Because you tried to destroy Duel Monsters." Yusei spat.

"Wrong."

"You—" No, he hadn't known about that until he'd actually met Yugi-san and Judai-san… He'd seen the world fall apart right after Paradox had— "Because you stole Stardust Dragon."

Paradox nodded. "And did you stop me from stealing it?"

Oh. Yusei looked down. "I didn't prevent you from doing so."

"No, you only took Stardust Dragon back. You got lucky. If you come with us now and we succeed, you won't be."

"That's time travel," Antinomy said. "Look, you don't have to come. We can handle this just fine on our own. If you want an out, we can just take you back to 2031. I guess you'll notice what we do in the past, but you will be able to keep living in Neo Domino. You'll be fine."

Yusei took a deep breath, then another. This was really the price? They had already destroyed all the work Yusei had done, and now they would take him away from his home too? From everyone he'd ever known and loved?

"That's not fair," Aki whispered. "We're trying to save the world."

Paradox laughed. "Whatever gave you the impression that any of this was ever fair? The world has never been fair to us and it won't be fair to you either. If you want out, now's your chance."

Back to Neo Domino, where Jack and Crow and the twins still were. Back to Neo Domino… Where the entire city was in ruins. Could they really not help at all? Just let them go off on their own? He glanced at Antinomy. If they died and Yusei could have prevented it… And if they failed, how could they still save the world?

"There's really no other way?" Aki asked.

"You could always kill your other self. That'd do the trick."

Antinomy shook his head. Aporia actually snorted. "We can't do that!" Yusei said. How could he just say that! He couldn't go kill himself just because— Ugh, time travel made his head hurt. How had Antinomy dealt with this all these years?

"I'll come," Sherry said. She hadn't spoken in a long time. Now she crossed her arms and looked at Antinomy and Paradox in turn. Paradox's eyes widened.

"Sherry, are you sure?"

"It's not like I have anything left in Neo Domino, do I? Not in that timeline, so why should I care about it?" She caught Paradox's eyes and the two of them just… stared at each other for a while. Yusei exchanged a look with Aki. What was going on there?

"You can still back out," Paradox said.

"I won't."

Paradox nodded, broke eye contact with Sherry and swallowed. "You two?"

Aki shook her head. "I have to think about it. I can't just… Not now."

"Me too," Yusei added. He needed time for this. Right now, he really wished Jack and Crow were here. He hoped they were okay. They had to go back and find them, at least, before they did anything else. And Ruka… She was alive, but they didn't know how she was doing. Had she gotten hurt badly? Had she recovered okay? How could he just leave Neo Domino behind when there were so many things to be done?

"It's okay," Antinomy said gently. "We can spare a few days. Just take your time."

Time. As if he hadn't dealt with that enough already.

 **oOoOo**

Tops was in ruins. She and Rua gingerly made their way around the rubble, trying to get to their home. Jack had brought them to the entrance and then, when his face was broadcast across the city with the newly restored electricity network, he'd left to find a working vehicle that could get him to safety.

Ruka could see their home in the distance. it looked intact. Maybe someone should clean the pool, but other than that, their house had escaped the destruction of the Earthbound Gods. She tripped over a rock and stumbled. Rua grabbed her arm before she could fall.

"You okay?" he asked, peering at her closely. "Does your head hurt? Are you feeling dizzy?"

"Rua, I'm fine." She gave him her best smile. This was going to be worse than when she'd come out of her coma. Of course, she hadn't actually died that time.

Rua had brought her back to life. She glanced at the birthmark on his arm. He had wanted to be a Signer for so long, but now he didn't seem particularly happy about it. The Crimson Dragon had meant well. It had saved her life. So why was he so angry?

"We're almost home," he said, hoisting her arm over his shoulder. She didn't really need the support but welcomed it anyway. The sky was perfectly blue and perfectly empty. Had the others escaped? Where were Jack and Crow? If Yusei and Aki had died, Ruka was sure she would have felt it, but what about Bruno? What about Sherry and Paradox? The uncertainty was wreaking havoc on her mind. They had tried calling them, but Crow's phone had gone to voicemail and Yusei and Aki's numbers apparently didn't exist.

"I wish we knew they were okay," she whispered. Rua's face fell.

"Yeah…"

They made their way to their home in silence. Using the elevator seemed like too much of a risk to take, even though Momentum was back up and running. It was a long trek and they had to pause a few times to catch their breath, but they made it to their thankfully-undamaged door. Ruka tried the handle. It was unlocked.

She and Rua exchanged a look and activated their duel disks simultaneously. Ruka carefully pushed the door open.

"Freez—! Oh, thank god, it's you two!"

Ruka blinked. In the hallway was Ushio-san, weapon lowered to the ground, his face a picture of relief. He crouched down to their level. "We thought they'd taken off with you."

"Ushio-san?" Ruka looked around. Why had he been in their home? "What's going on?"

But Ushio-san was already on the phone. Ruka and Rua glanced at each other.

"Yes, Mikage-san, the twins are here. They're alone, yes." Ushio-san looked them over. "A bit scuffed up, but in one piece. Yes, okay."

He shut down the phone. "I'm sorry we didn't find you before," he said. "I'm glad to see you're both okay."

"Ushio-san, what are you talking about?" Rua asked. Ruka narrowed her eyes. Something didn't add up. Sure, she'd died, but Ushio-san didn't know that. Why had he been waiting for them here?

Ushio-san growled. "I can't believe I let myself be fooled by them. I honestly thought they'd changed, but to attack the City like that!"

"Um, who?"

"Yusei and Jack and Crow. I'm glad you kids are fine."

Ruka recoiled. Rua raised his hands. "Whoa, wait! They didn't attack anyone! They were trying to save the city!"

Ushio-san sighed and shook his head. "I'm sure that's what they told you. Why don't you kids freshen up a bit? We called your parents. I'm sure they'll be here any minute."

Ruka exchanged another nervous glance with Rua. Mom and Dad were coming? She'd often wished they'd come by more often, but now? Why now? She didn't want to see them and explain why Rua was now also a Signer, or the events that had led up to that.

"They didn't betray anyone," Rua said, voice tight with anger. "Jack tried to save us. Yusei and Aki were trying to stop the Ark from attacking us."

Ushio-san didn't seem to have heard him. "And Team Chevalier too… Ah, I don't blame you kids. You're young. You already went through a great deal. You should just rest up a bit, and we'll make sure everything gets back to the way it was. You won't have to worry about them anymore, we'll find them and we won't let them get near you."

Rua stamped his foot. "They didn't do anything wrong!" he shouted. "They were trying to save all of you! Ask Kaiba-san, Jack and Crow were helping out everywhere!"

Ushio-san faltered just a little at that name. "He will be brought in for testimony, I'm sure," he said. "I'm sorry, kids. I didn't want to believe it myself either, but the evidence—"

"It's just a misunderstanding!" Ruka said. "Please, Ushio-san, you know them! They would never try to hurt anyone! Yusei worked so hard to get the city reunited, why would he try to destroy **it**?"

Ushio-san didn't get to reply. Ruka heard the elevator doors slide open, footsteps through the hallways and then Mom and Dad burst in.

"Rua! Ruka!" Mom immediately scooped the two of them up into a hug. "Oh, thank God you're all right! We were so worried when we heard what happened!"

Their parents were actually here. It had been how long since they'd seen them in the flesh? Ruka had lost count.

"We're fine, Mom," Rua gasped out. "You can let go now." He glanced at Ruka and Ruka knew, by unspoken promise, that he'd never tell their parents about her dying.

Mom and Dad looked the same as they always did, completely put together, not a hair out of place. It was almost impressive, given that they'd run here. Mom let go of them and got up. Dad nodded at Ushio-san.

"Officer, you have our gratitude for looking after our children. We'll take it from here."

Ushio-san looked uncomfortable. "Sir, with all due respect, I need witness statements from your children."

"Surely it can wait until tomorrow? Look at them, they don't need any more stress today. It must have been such a terrible day for them."

Ruka felt her eye twitch. They hadn't even been here for two seconds and they were already talking over them. "Mom, Dad, we're fine," she said. "If Ushio-san needs statements now, we can give them." And clear everyone else's names. It wasn't right for them to be accused of something they hadn't done.

"Out of the question," Mom said. "You two must have been terrified today!"

Rua grabbed her hand, grounding her. Yes, she had been terrified and Rua had been too, but how would Mom and Dad know? They hadn't been here for the Machine Emperors. They hadn't been chased around the entire city thinking they were going to die any second now. They hadn't actually died.

"I'll come back tomorrow, then," Ushio-san said. "Be safe, kids. Sir, ma'am."

Ruka watched him go. Even if he had been accusing the others, she'd rather have him around now. Having their parents around after so many months was just… awkward.

"We never should have left you unsupervised like that," Dad said, shaking his head. "Rest assured that your nanny has already been fired. It was very irresponsible of her to let you out of her sight. I have no idea what she was thinking, letting you hang out with those Satelliters all day."

Ruka's thoughts came to a crashing halt. Next to her, Rua froze.

"They didn't do anything to us," she said with forced calm. Rua's hand tightened around hers.

Dad shook his head. "You're just kids, it's not your fault that they fooled you, really. We should have been more careful. They have criminal markers, for God's sake." That last part was more of a murmur than anything else. It cut through Ruka like ice.

"That's not what they're like!" she protested. "And Aki-neesan isn't even Satellite!"

"Izayoi Aki?" Mom said. "She comes from a very prestigious family, that's true. But Ruka dear, have you heard about her history? She's one of those psychic duelists! Who knows how many people she's hurt!"

They were actually doing this. They were actually going to claim they knew better when they hadn't been around for ages, when she and Rua had spent so much time on their own.

"You should go to bed now, both of you." Mom said. "We've talked it over on the way here, and we think it's better you don't go back to Duel Academia either. We'll hire tutors, like before. Won't that be better? You'll be perfectly safe here, and then you won't have to deal with those Satellite kids. I hear they're having to admit them to city schools too now, can you imagine?"

Ruka felt dizzy, like her entire world was being turned upside down. No more school? She wouldn't see any of their friends anymore? How could they do that? How could they just waltz in here and think they knew better, and then take everything away from them? She felt her breathing become faster, heavier. She was hyperventilating and she didn't know how to stop it, she needed to get out, she needed help, she needed—

"You're wrong."

Rua's voice was a lifeline and she clung to it with all her might. His hand was warm in hers.

"Rua, dear, you're tired. Tomorrow you'll understand," Mom said gently. Rua's grip became painful, but Ruka didn't let go.

"Yusei helped us when we had no one else. He protected Ruka when she fainted during the Fortune Cup," Rua said. "Where were you then?"

"It would be better if you two just didn't participate in any tournaments. Rua, you know your sister is weak—"

"Stop talking about me like I'm not even here!" She burst out. "You're taking everything away from us! You don't even know them and you're already judging them just because they lived in Satellite! They couldn't help it! They had no choice!"

"It's tragic, for sure, but the environment they grew up in—"

"Yusei built our duel disks and our duel boards for us," Rua interrupted. "Where were you for that? He'd always help us with our homework. Aki-neesan would help us at school. Jack and Crow always looked out for us and made sure we got home safe. We were always alone and they actually helped us out!"

"It was a mistake to leave you unsupervised—"

"That's not what it's about!" Ruka screamed. She hadn't felt so angry, so helpless in years. "You don't get it! You always think that you can just throw money at your problems and that they'll go away! They cared about us!" She could feel the tears welling up. A week ago they'd still been with the guys. They'd been upset, but they'd all been together. They'd been fine. "Crow made us hot chocolate when the Ark Cradle appeared," she whispered. "He gave up his room for us. They didn't want us to go out all alone because it was way too late. Where were you for that?"

"That's more than enough," Dad said, voice raised. "I think you both need to cool down. You're staying in your rooms until tomorrow morning, and when you have a clear head again, we'll talk this over and get things sorted out."

They'd lock them up for all eternity. Rua met her eyes and glanced behind him. Ushio-san hadn't closed the door yet. She gripped Rua's hand in confirmation.

"No," she whispered.

"Young lady, you listen here—"

She bolted, Rua right behind her. They made it to the stairs before their parents had time to react. Rua kicked the fire door closed behind them.

"Rua! Ruka! You come back here this instant!"

Footsteps behind them. Rua pulled her along, faster and faster in a dizzying spiral down the stairs. They were faster and they knew this building through and through. They had to make it. They had to get out of here right now, they had to find the guys.

"Kuribon, please, guide us." Ruka whispered. There were tears streaming down her face. She had to keep running. The footsteps behind them hadn't stopped yet, they were thundering down the stairs, and if their parents caught up with them, they'd never get out again. Kuribon appeared in front of her, leading them down the stairs and outside. They burst through the outside door and kicked it shut behind them again. Ruka was gasping but she couldn't stop. Rua was pulling her along. Kuribon veered left sharply just as they were nearing the exit gates of Tops and Ruka pulled Rua along.

"This way!"

Kuribon led them to the high fence separating Tops from the rest of the city. They followed the fence for a few minutes, careful to stay out of sight of any passers-by, until Kuribon halted and chirped. Ruka studied the fence and bent low. She tugged. Part of the chain-link fence came loose in her hands.

"Thank god for bad maintenance." Rua grinned as he followed her out of Tops into the now-ravaged streets of Neo Domino. They were still a very long way from anywhere familiar, and Ruka didn't know how they were going to find the rest of the guys when Security was patrolling the entire city. But they had to try.

"I should've known I'd find you two here."

Rua whirled around, pulling Ruka behind him and activating his duel disk. Ruka knew who it was before even looking. She'd known and trusted that voice for almost two years now, but now…

"Ushio-san," Ruka said softly. "Please let us go."

Ushio-san stared down at them. They were still out of arm's reach. They could run. But outrunning their parents was one thing. Outrunning a trained police officer ?

"I hadn't even made it out of Tops before your parents called me," Ushio-san said. "And y'know? I wasn't even surprised. I kinda figured this would happen."

"Ushio-san, you don't understand—"

"See, that's the thing, I don't. Things don't add up and I'm pretty sure the two of you can explain what's going on here."

Ruka and Rua exchanged a look. Would he actually be willing to listen?

"Yusei didn't want this to happen," Ruka said.

"So you've said. But he broke into a high-security facility and collaborated with people who tried to destroy Neo Domino City. How else are we supposed to interpret that?"

Ruka glanced around. They were still standing right outside the fence of Tops. Maybe Ushio-san would be willing to listen, but if anyone else caught them here… "Ushio-san, can we talk in private somewhere?"

Ushio-san grimaced. "My car is nearby. That okay?"

Rua didn't look happy about that at all and there were plenty of reasons not to enter a Security vehicle right now, but what other choice did they have? If they could convince Ushio-san, they might just be able to get the guys pardoned again.

"Yes," Ruka said. Ushio-san nodded.

"Well, come on then. Let's talk."

* * *

 _Happy birthday to me!_

 _Real talk, the story is not finished yet. It's not even close to being out of its draft phase. But real-life circumstances and my eternal penchant for procrastination made it so that I spent far less time working on this story than I wanted. So I'm updating to give me the incentive to work on it._

 _This means that updates might be every two weeks instead of every week like before. I will aim for weekly updates but I cannot promise that._

 _Comments, as always, very welcome!_

 _ **Next chapter:** Hindsight is 20/20 (except when it isn't)._


	26. XXII - Retrospective

**XXII. Retrospective**

Mutou-san had taken Jack and Crow to a car with blacked-out windows and the Kaiba Corp logo featured prominently on the front and sides. It should deter Security. Any Kaiba Corp car was able to pass through the blockades without so much as a second glance. Jack had learned that from his earlier trip with the Kaiba Corp employee whose name he hadn't bothered to remember. Having Mutou Yugi in the front was practically an official pardon from the emperor himself.

Jack had driven in many of these cars since leaving Satellite. Crow hadn't. He studied the inside of the car with the kind of paranoia Jack had always known him for. Check for cameras. Check the locks. They were still taking a massive risk.

No one spoke as they pulled out of the garage. Crow looked out of the windows, on high alert for any Security patrol planning on pulling them over. Jack took out his phone. He wasn't too worried about Security tracking it. Yusei had modified all their phones to be invisible on any network.

The home screen was empty. Nothing from Yusei or Aki. Nothing from Carly either.

If something had happened to Yusei or Aki, he would have felt it. But Carly… He hoped she had heeded the order to evacuate the city, but it wouldn't be the first time she'd landed herself in a sticky situation. And she still wasn't talking to him. He growled in frustration and typed out a new message.

 _at least tell me ur ok_

He sent it and waited, tapping his fingers against his thighs to quell his nerves. Crow shot him an annoyed look. He tapped harder.

His phone's vibrations shook him out of his thoughts. He fumbled with the thing, activated it again and stared at the new message. Carly.

 _Im ok_

It was short, far too short for Carly, but it was something. She was alive. She was okay and she'd talked to him again for the first time in weeks.

Should he have told her about the Dark Signers? Even now he didn't know if he'd be able to if he saw her again. Seeing her die, seeing her possessed by Aslla Piscu… It had been horrible and every so often, he still had nightmares. He didn't want her to remember that. He wanted her to be safe and far away from the mess they'd always managed to get themselves involved in.

But that wasn't like Carly at all, was it? She always stormed in headlong, her desire to know everything all-consuming. It was how he'd met her. It was what he liked so much about her. Jack closed his eyes. She'd keep looking. She'd keep looking forever if he didn't tell her. Was it worth it, driving her away to keep her safe?

A better man than him probably would have said yes. But Jack was a selfish man, and he didn't want to lose Carly from his life. He couldn't handle that, not after everything that had gone down. So he picked up his phone again and sent a new text, this one longer:

 _Im sorry, ill tell u what happened_

It took over ten minutes for Carly to reply, ten minutes in which they had to duck down once or twice when an overly adventurous Security officer drove close to the car.

 _Ok_

It was the only answer he got. Jack waited, but nothing else came through. Take it or leave it. He got the message loud and clear.

 **oOoOo**

So this was the legacy Sagiri Mikage would be left with. The second director who managed to get the entire city destroyed during her term. And while Zero Reverse had not been the then-director's fault, it was because she'd been too weak to keep the city together that so much of it was in ruins now. All her arguments with the special defense forces had led to nothing. The entire inner city was in ruins, Security had had to arrest several people trying to destroy Daedalus Bridge, and she had absolutely no idea where Team 5D's, Team Chevalier or Team New World had gone.

Signing the arrest warrant with the members of Team 5D's on it had hurt. She'd liked them. She still wasn't sure exactly what had brought Yusei and Aki to the Ark, but the images didn't lie. They hadn't been fighting the other people on the Ark, as she would have expected them to do. There had been no duels, no speeches, no attempts to save the city. Yusei and Aki had been helping the others there. All of Team Chevalier and Team New World had been up there. They had been working together. To destroy Neo Domino City. It boggled her mind.

And then the Ark had disappeared. Small mercies, perhaps. It had disappeared before the self-defense forces could do any more damage to the city. All of her pleading hadn't stopped the shooting. The city had been evacuated, they'd said. Some structural damage was a small price to pay for the elimination of the enemy, they'd said. They weren't the ones who'd need to rebuild the city and restore peace.

With the Ark gone, Momentum had been restored but that hadn't solved any of her problems. Mikage stared at her computer screen, rubbing her temples. Her headache hadn't really abated in the last week or so. She'd slept maybe four hours a day for the last eight days and the end of her work was still nowhere in sight. Even her strongest coffee, the type that gave her stomach aches on a normal day, wasn't enough to keep her going anymore. She needed a break. She wasn't going to get it.

The phone rang again, as it had been almost non-stop ever since Momentum had come back. She glanced at the caller ID. Ushio. At least he could be trusted not to shout at her.

"Sagiri Mikage speaking."

" _Mikage-san, hello. I hope I'm not bothering you."_

Mikage made an impatient noise. Of course he was bothering her. There wasn't a moment when he wouldn't be bothering her. "What is it?"

" _I found the twins."_

"Really?" Oh thank god, finally some good news. The twins' parents had been calling her constantly in the half hour since the twins had disappeared. She'd almost snapped at them after they'd gone off on a lengthy tirade about how weak they were and how sickly Ruka was. Mikage had seen the twins in action. They were far better at surviving in the city right now than their parents would ever be. But she worried. She refused to believe that Rua and Ruka had known about the actions of the rest of Team 5D's. She knew Ruka had kept the Momentum reactor going in Neo Domino University Hospital. They wouldn't have helped if they'd known about this.

 _But then again_ , whispered a voice in her mind, _so did Atlas-sama and Crow._

She dismissed it. She couldn't let a silly crush get in the way of running the city. And the odds that Yusei in particular would have done anything without Atlas-sama and Crow's knowledge was laughable.

" _They're refusing to go back to their parents. Can't blame 'em."_

Neither could Mikage. Still, she had a duty.

"Ushio-san, their parents are their legal caretakers, and they are very worried—"

 _"They want to tell us what they know."_

Mikage sat up straight. Perhaps the two of them could shed some light on what had happened and what had driven their teammates to ally with their enemies.

"Can you get them here unnoticed?"

" _Of course. I'll be there in an hour._ _"_

An hour later, almost on the dot, Mikage unlocked the door to let Ushio-san and the twins in. Ushio-san took up guard next to the door. Rua and Ruka came to a halt in front of her desk, identical expressions of defiance on their faces.

"Ruka-chan, Rua-kun, I'm glad to see you safe," Mikage said. Their harsh expressions didn't disappear.

"You're not sending us back to our parents," Rua said. "If you are, we aren't telling you shit."

"Language!" Ushio-san warned. Rua looked unimpressed. Mikage waved a hand.

"I'm not. I am far too interested in the story you have to tell to risk seeing you shipped off to god-knows-where."

The twins' parents had been very clear on that matter. If they found their children again, they would leave Neo Domino and the kids wouldn't be going anywhere until they were well into their twenties. Mikage had tried to temper their feelings. Privately, she'd laughed, one of the few laughs she'd had in the last few days. As if the twins could be stopped by mere locks when they'd defeated Dark Signers.

Mikage got up from behind her desk. Ushio-san gave her a quick reassuring nod, an unwavering presence. "Can you tell me what happened with Yusei-kun and Izayoi-san? Why were they on the Ark Cradle?"

The twins exchanged a look. "Yusei was trying to help," Ruka said. "And I'm sure Aki-neesan was too. To be honest, we don't know much about the Ark or what its goal was, but we know… Not all of the people who summoned it had bad intentions. They were trying to save a lot of people."

"By destroying Neo Domino?" Ushio-san ground out. Again, Rua and Ruka looked at each other. Mikage wondered if there was any truth to the old myth of twins being able to communicate with their minds. Something complicated passed on their faces until Ruka sighed and murmured, "What've we got to lose?" She turned back to Mikage.

"I know you know Bruno left the guys' house a few months ago," she began. Mikage nodded, confused. What did Bruno have to do with anything? Sure, he had been staying with Sherry Leblanc and her team, but he hadn't been present at any of their matches and clearly wasn't on the Ark. She was glad he'd been spared of it. She only hoped he was okay now.

"He left because he got into an argument with Yusei."

"I know that."

Ruka took a deep breath. "Yes. What you don't know is that he'd regained all of his memories a week before that."

" _What?"_ But she'd asked Bruno! He'd told her he still didn't remember anything! Why had he lied?

"A while before that, Yusei was attacked by another duelist," Rua picked up, ignoring her exclamation. "Paradox. He traveled to the past. Yusei followed. Yusei defeated him and… arrested Paradox, I guess? He lived with the guys for a few weeks."

Again, _what?_ What kind of secrets had Team 5D's been keeping from them? Time travel? It almost boggled the mind. If she hadn't seen the Dark Signers first-hand she would have dismissed their story altogether. As it stood, she was only barely giving them the benefit of the doubt.

"He and Bruno got along well. Very well. Should've been a clue in hindsight," Rua said with a dry laugh. "They'd been friends before Bruno lost his memories. They were from the future. They'd been trying to prevent the world's destruction."

Mikage closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. And here she'd thought this outing would serve as a distraction from the stress and the work piled onto her.

"So this Paradox character is still running around somewhere?" Ushio-san ground out. "Why the hell didn't you tell us? And what's all this got to do with the Ark?"

"You would've arrested Bruno!" Rua said. "We weren't gonna sell out our friends! We wanted to help him!"

"Yeah, where's Bruno anyway? If he was staying with Leblanc's team, why wasn't he on the Ark?"

Rua and Ruka shared another one of those twin looks. Ruka swallowed heavily.

"He was," she said. Mikage had to lean forward to catch her words. "Timothy Kant. That's Bruno."

The Accel Synchro duelist. Mikage only vaguely remembered a tall man who was always wearing his riding suit and glasses. She'd never seen his face. No wonder Bruno had been able to stay hidden. Team Chevalier had had a last-minute line-up change the day before Bruno had last talked to her. Then the other guy…

"Their backbencher is this Paradox person?"

Rua and Ruka both nodded. "Yusei and the guys didn't know about the Ark," Rua said. "Aki'd gone up there with Sherry. I don't think she knew either. And then Yusei tried to stop them once things down here were working out, so he went there too. And that's when those drones went up…" he trailed off, looking down. Mikage saw the picture take form in her head.

"All of the City and all of Satellite expected Yusei to be dueling… facing the attackers, trying to take them out. But they were just talking. You have to realize how that came across."

"I suppose he wouldn't want to duel Bruno," Ushio offered. Ruka frowned.

"Probably not, but if they'd really threatened to destroy the city, I'm sure Yusei would have anyway. So I think they weren't really planning on destroying Neo Domino, no matter what they said. The defense forces forced their hand."

And then the Ark had disappeared, fortunately before it could do any more damage. If Ruka was to be believed, that had been intentional. Fact of the matter was that Yusei, Bruno and everyone else on the Ark had now disappeared. That left an outstanding arrest warrant for Atlas-sama and Crow.

"You say Atlas-sama and Crow didn't know about this?"

Both twins nodded. "None of us did," Ruka said. "They were trying to help! We've been helping day and night since the Ark appeared. You can ask Kaiba-san!"

"Kaiba Mokuba? That Kaiba-san?"

"Yes! And Mutou-san and Manjoume-san and—"

Mikage cut her off with a tired wave. They were just name-dropping now. "Do you have any idea where Yusei is right now?"

The twins shook their heads.

"What about Atlas-sama and Crow?"

Hesitation. Ruka was the first one to speak up. "If we did, what would you do?"

"We'd like to talk to them and get their side of the story," Mikage said. Ruka looked thoughtful.

"We might be able to contact them," she said at long last. "If we do, we will tell you. In the meantime, I'd like for you to keep our parents off our backs. Please do not tell them you have found us."

Rua nodded alongside his sister, face pulled into a frown. With the calls she'd been getting from their parents, Mikage understood their request all too well. It was probably irresponsible, letting two preteens run around freely in the chaos that was Neo Domino right now. But it was their only hope.

"All right. What do you need?"

 **oOoOo**

It had been a week since they'd arrived in the future. A week of sleepless nights as Yusei went over everything that had happened and everything they had to do. Neo Domino was in shambles. Satellite and the City were further apart than ever and the Bad Future —past now— would almost definitely come to pass. There had to be a way to fix it.

That meant going back in time to… Yeah, to when? And if they did, would that really mean never going back to Neo Domino again? Would they at least have time to find Jack and Crow and the twins? They shouldn't be affected by any changes they made to the timeline, right?

Yusei took a deep breath and turned around in the makeshift bed. None of them slept well here. Antinomy had walked past his room fifteen minutes ago. He could hear intermittent noises coming from Aki's room, like she was talking to someone. He wanted to tell her to keep it down, but he also didn't feel like talking to her at all. If they had to go back to the past, where should they start? The root cause of the Bad Future was Momentum (and wow, did that hurt to admit). But destroying Momentum was impossible. Stopping it from being created was too. They already knew almost everything there was to know about Momentum.

… Almost everything.

The original plans for the B.A.D. Momentum reactor, the very first one, had been lost in Zero Reverse through what Yusei suspected to be Rex and Rudger's machinations. The reactor itself had continued working after Zero Reverse, but it was substantially different from the main Neo Domino reactor in ways Yusei had never been quite able to grasp. If they could figure out what had led to the creation of the original reactor, would they be able to find a way to keep Momentum from going out of control? Everything he'd learned told him that there was no way to limit the output of Momentum, but what if there was?

Yusei sat up straight, not even pretending to be asleep anymore. What if they could control Momentum?

It wouldn't solve the problem of Satellite and the City, but it would give them time to fix them without having to worry about another disaster. And best of all, it just required knowledge of the original Momentum reactor. There would be no need to change the future in any real way. They would be able to go back to Neo Domino with no trouble whatsoever.

He got up. He was loath to talk to anyone right now, but he needed to. He left in the direction he'd heard Antinomy leave in and followed the lit-up hallway until he reached a large vault. It was open. Yusei knocked to announce his presence.

"Who's there?" Antinomy called.

Yusei said nothing as he entered. Inside was a massive laboratory, even bigger than the ones he'd seen at NDU. Any other day, Yusei would have been overjoyed at getting to spend time here. The fact that he couldn't enjoy any of the scientific facilities he'd been to in the last two weeks was seriously starting to get on his nerves.

"Who— Oh, Yusei." Antinomy looked up from the screen he'd been staring at. He eyed Yusei warily. "Can I help you with anything?"

"What do you know about the B.A.D. Reactor?" Yusei halted on the other side of the lab table. It was about as close as he was willing to get right now.

"It's the original Momentum reactor. It never stopped turning."

Yusei nodded. "The plans for it were destroyed in Zero Reverse. Did you ever recover them?"

Antinomy carefully considered his next words. "We tried to," he finally said. "Professors Fudou and Fudou were very… reluctant to allow people near the reactor."

The mention of his parents had Yusei suppressing a grimace. "I see."

"Why do you ask?"

"You keep saying Momentum is a fixed point in time and that it always leads to this future."

Antinomy let out a long sigh. "Yusei, look, I know you don't want to believe that, so it was pointless to tell you anything more—"

"I don't care," Yusei bit out. "Fine, Momentum caused it and Momentum's creation can't be prevented. Well, what about keeping it under control?"

"You think we haven't tried that?" Antinomy stood up. "Yusei, be real. Everything you can think of is something we've probably already tried a hundred times over. We've been working on this for _years_. Z-one was literally you, do you think he didn't think of the very same things? Momentum can't be prevented and it can't be stopped. It can't be controlled either. It feeds and feeds and feeds upon everyone's emotions until it overflows and explodes and we still can't do without it!" He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Look at this place! Look at my D-Wheel! _They still run on Momentum_. We don't have any alternatives!"

Yusei glanced around. He hadn't consciously paid any mind to what kept the lights on. This was still Momentum? In all their hatred, they hadn't been able to stop using it?

"I want to go back to when the first Momentum reactor was activated."

Antinomy faltered. "Are you sure?"

"Look, I don't want to go around changing anything. I just want info. And I think 2011 is the year to find it in. So I go back to Domino in 2011 and I try to find out what's going on. I want to see what made the original reactor tick."

"You realize that we've tried that already?"

"I'm sure," Yusei waved a hand. Antinomy's frown deepened. "But look, I've got resources you don't have."

Antinomy let out a snort. "Claiming you're the son of the Fudous won't get you access to the reactor. They'll just call you a fraud."

"Not what I meant." God, why did everything between them have to be so hostile? How hard could it be to have a single civil conversation? "I know Yugi-san and Judai-san. They know a lot of people that can help you. And they'll know me in 2011."

That actually got a reaction out of Antinomy that wasn't barely disguised disinterest. "… I see your point."

"I can get in touch with them. They'd already been trying to help me. They got me some of my parents' calculations. Maybe we can prevent Judai-san from disappearing altogether."

Antinomy nodded and sat down again. He gestured at a chair on the other side of the table. "You say you only want to go back for research. Do you realize that if you go back to prevent Judai-san from disappearing, the consequences could potentially be far-reaching? That they could prevent you from going back to Neo Domino in 2031 altogether?"

"It won't come that fa—"

" _Do you realize that?_ " Antinomy leaned forward. Yusei was very glad for the table between them. He tried to meet Antinomy's eyes without flinching as the latter continued: "Time travel is fraught with danger, Yusei. Your mere presence in the past can affect the future. So even if you don't want to change anything in your past, it might happen. You need to be ready for that. I don't want you to get hurt."

Yusei snorted. Antinomy's face fell.

"Is that so hard to believe? I messed up, I know. But what other choice did I have? The original plan was to let the Ark fall within twelve hours of its appearance. The only reason we could convince Z-one otherwise was because he believed you might be able to turn the tide after we found out that it was Satellite and the City causing the Machine Emperors' appearance."

"If you'd just _told_ me that!"

"Then what? Would you have been able to uphold a fake threat?" Antinomy leaned back, eyes fixed on the ceiling. "You wouldn't have been able to. I knew that, Z-one knew that, Aki knew that, we all knew that."

"We're not talking about this now," Yusei ground out.

"Oh, then when?"

"Never, for all I care!" Yusei shoved his chair backwards. "Can you take us back to 2011 or not?"

"Of course we can! All I want to know is if you're actually ready for that!"

"I am!"

"Well fine!" Antinomy threw his hands up. "Fine, we'll take you. We'll talk about it with the others tomorrow."

"Fine."

"Fine."

They lapsed in silence. Yusei wasn't going to be the first to admit defeat and leave, and clearly neither was Antinomy. Yusei threw a glance at the computers around the lab.

"… Z-one said you're a clone of the first Antinomy."

Antinomy looked at him through narrowed eyes. "I am. What of it?"

"They managed to clone each other just like that?"

" _We,_ " Antinomy said, and Yusei grimaced, "needed a lot of time for that. I was the fifth viable attempt and the first clone good enough to actually reach maturity."

"… Good enough?"

Antinomy sighed. He pointed at his eyes. "Surely you've noticed my eyes aren't the way they should be?"

Yusei squinted. Antinomy's eyes were the same dull grey they'd always been. "What's wrong with them?"

"They're bionic. I was born without working eyes."

For a few seconds, Yusei didn't reply. Antinomy's eyes didn't reflect the light. He'd never paid attention to it before, but now that it had been pointed out to him, it was unmistakable. Bionic eyes were nothing new back in his proper time, but the technology hadn't quite reached the point yet of looking natural. With Antinomy, it was almost unnoticeable.

"What happened?"

"Ocular nerve didn't connect properly to my eyes. So they took them out and replaced them with eyes that would connect properly. Hence." Antinomy gestured at his eyes again. "Aporia has the same kind. Paradox was a far more successful clone than I ever was. He'll be fine in the long run."

That sent a chill down Yusei's spine. "What do you mean, in the long run?"

Antinomy shrugged. "I was the best of the lot, but I was still born with a whole host of defects that will probably catch up to me sooner or later. We patched up most of them and my body's probably gonna hold up fine for at least another twenty years or so. After that, it's anyone's guess."

That would put Antinomy just over forty when his body started giving out. Yusei clenched a fist under the table. "Can't you do anything about that?" he asked in a low voice. No matter how angry he was, there wasn't a single cell of his body that wanted Antinomy to die, especially not at such an early age.

Antinomy shrugged. "Why bother?"

 _Why bother?!_ "You can't be serious," Yusei bit out. "Are you telling me you want to die?"

Antinomy chuckled lowly. It only served to infuriate Yusei further. "Not particularly, but what does it matter? The odds of any of us ever reaching forty are minuscule. We were always going to save the future or die trying. If Paradox is to be believed, there already was a timeline where we all died and still couldn't save the future. There are hundreds of those. Maybe one Antinomy out there will actually succeed and have to deal with the fallout of this body in the long run," he gestured at himself, "but what are the odds that it's this version of me?"

"How can you think like that?" Now Yusei was furious for an entirely different reason. "Do you think I want to see you die?"

Antinomy looked away. "What I think or what you want has very little importance, Yusei," he said, almost whispering. "Do I want to die? Right now, definitely not. Does that matter? I'll try to avoid dying as best as I can, of course. But if I do, I can only hope it somehow helped to bring a peaceful future closer. I'll support your idea of going back to 2011. It's probably the best idea we currently have. But you have to be absolutely sure that this is what you want to do. Because if it's not… It could change your entire life, and you're not used to that like we are." He got up and walked towards the exit. Yusei didn't have it in him to stop him. "Think about it, Yusei. If you never believe anything else I say ever again, at least believe me on this: the point of no return will have passed before you've even realized it was headed your way."

* * *

 _ **Next chapter:** Temporal-spatial-dimensional travel._


	27. XXIII - Moving (pt 1)

**XXIII. Moving (pt.1)**

Fudou Yusei's idea was by no means a bad one. It was certainly better than returning to a city in ruins to execute a plan that had already failed twice over. Yet Aporia was left with a lingering sense of unease. Heading back to the months before Zero Reverse had never been a pleasant experience, and each and every member of their team had spent anywhere from weeks to years in that time period, to no avail. Even if Fudou Yusei was somehow Z-one (and Aporia would need a lot longer than a few days to come to terms with that), it didn't give his plan any more chance of success.

"Yugi-san will help us. Judai-san too," Yusei was arguing his case. He needn't have bothered; everyone was on board already. Paradox looked rather queasy at the mention of the two legendary duelists, and the Leblanc woman looked as indifferent as she had the past few days, but neither of them was putting up any kind of protest.

"So we'll be splitting up," Antinomy said. "Who's doing what?"

Aporia opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by Aki: "I need one of you to take me to Norway."

"Norway?" Sherry voiced Aporia's question. Yusei, Antinomy and, surprisingly, Paradox, all nodded in understanding.

"I promised Johan I'd summon Rainbow Dragon to bring Judai back. I have my psychic powers back now, so there's nothing stopping me. It shouldn't take long."

Antinomy and Paradox exchanged a look. "It's probably for the best," Antinomy said after a loaded few seconds. "I'll take you."

Aporia, to his great shame, had not kept up with what Izayoi Aki had done after they had ripped her psychic powers from her. She had been a non-issue, a pawn toppled. She had disappeared from the country altogether for two weeks and then returned with Clear Mind. Perhaps they should have paid more attention.

"Aki and I will go to Norway and meet back up with you in 2011," Antinomy said. Yusei didn't look happy about that. He hadn't looked happy about much of anything since they'd come here.

"Then I'll get Jack and Crow first, and the twins. Why are we splitting up anyway?"

Aporia and Paradox glanced at each other; Paradox's eye roll and Aporia's grimace went unnoticed by Yusei but not Sherry. Aporia thought he saw the woman smile.

"We'd be foolish not to," Paradox replied, tone making it very clear who he was calling foolish. "Do you have any idea how close we came to being wiped out entirely on the Ark Cradle? It is folly to stick together. I won't be joining you in 2011, I've had quite enough of that already."

That left him or Antinomy to take care of 2011. And Aporia wasn't exactly inconspicuous in this form. Even if he had been able to rebuild his three former forms, he felt quite comfortable now that he was one being again. He was loath to give it up so soon. "I will stay here. Antinomy, do you agree?"

Antinomy slumped and glanced at Yusei, who pointedly looked away. "I can do 2011. Someone needs to go to Neo Domino with Yusei. They probably won't like to see us coming and we might need a quick exit route. Sherry, Aki, Yusei, do you want your D-Wheels back?"

"They'll have been confiscated," Sherry said. Antinomy made a face.

"Probably, yes."

Yusei grimaced but didn't say anything. Aki bit her lip. "If we can get them back, that would be great, but the guys are more important now," she said.

"Fair. Aki and I will go to Norway, the rest of you go to Neo Domino. We get the guys, move all of you to 2011 and then I'll stay to keep an eye on things and Paradox and Aporia will stay here. Sound okay?"

"I don't think you need me in 2011," Sherry said. She glanced at Paradox. "What're you gonna do anyway?"

Paradox shrugged. "We'll see when we get to that. You can just stay here, spare us the trip."

"No. I want to see what's left of my stuff."

"At your own risk," Paradox said. It sounded unnecessarily harsh for the kind of relationship Paradox supposedly had with this woman, and Aporia saw Aki move to protest, but Sherry grinned.

"Of course."

"All right, 2031, tomorrow. You two go to Norway," he nodded at Aki and Antinomy, "Aporia and I will take you to Neo Domino, we get everyone you need and then we go to 2011. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good." And Yusei turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, muttering something that suspiciously sounded like "Then I won't have to look at all of you anymore."

Antinomy and Aki sighed in unison. Apparently Fudou Yusei could hold a grudge. Aporia briefly touched the deck attached to his side. Z-one had never been like that. He had always been quick to move on and forget, just trying his hardest to keep them all alive. Perhaps he had been like that a long time ago, when Antinomy and Paradox had just met him. Not for the first time, Aporia felt the massive chasm between him and his comrades. They had never made him feel anything less than entirely welcome, but they shared a history with one another that Aporia could never hope to emulate. And now with Z-one irrevocably gone, his world had become just that little bit smaller again.

Unbidden, he wondered how his mother and father were doing. Had they evacuated? He remembered the version of his parents that Lucciano had seen. They had been so young. Perhaps he could check on their well-being once they made it back to 2031. Their safety didn't affect his personal existence in the slightest, but it would sure make him sleep easier at night.

 **oOoOo**

Carly had not wanted to abandon Neo Domino City when the call to evacuate had gone out, but common sense had won out. She'd even made her way over to the garage, but predictably hadn't found any of the guys there. She _had_ found Stephanie and Yaso-san, who were without transport and had joined her on her way out of the city. So now they were staying with Yaso-san's family, halfway across the country. Yaso-san's parents were every bit as cordial as their son. They had greeted her and Stephanie with warm enthusiasm and thanked her for getting their son out of Neo Domino City, but Carly still felt uncomfortably like an intruder.

She had unpacked what little stuff she'd managed to take along and taken stock of everything with a frown. There was so much she'd had to leave behind in Neo Domino and she was probably out of a job now. Her savings account had always been on the verge of empty. What were the odds of her apartment being spared the rioting?

When would it be safe to go back to Neo Domino? And how was everyone doing back there? She knew Jack could take care of himself. His earlier text message had told her he was still okay. But the last she'd seen of Neo Domino was a city falling apart and Jack would have been right in the middle of it. For all the frustration she still felt, she hoped he'd contact her soon.

It was almost midnight the next day and she had been idly watching a show both she and Stephanie enjoyed when her phone started ringing. She glanced at the caller ID. Jack.

"I need to take this, keep watching," she told Steph. Steph paused the show.

"You sure? I'll wait."

"Might take a while." Carly swallowed and accepted the call with an overly formal, "This is Carly Nagisa speaking."

" _Carly?_ " Jack sounded uncharacteristically nervous, perhaps put off by her greeting. _"Is this a good time?"_

"Give me a minute." She moved to the guest room she and Stephanie shared. "Are you safe?"

" _More or less."_

"Okay. Talk."

Jack didn't say anything for a few seconds, long enough that Carly started wondering whether the line had cut off. Then she heard him take a deep, shaky breath.

" _Can you turn on the camera? I can't do this over the phone."_

Carly wanted to say no, but he wasn't wrong. If she was going to hear the truth, she wanted to be able to see his face. She clenched her hand, the one with the unexplained scar on it. Then she turned on the camera on her phone. Jack came into view. The wall behind him was painted in the non-descript beige that indicated a guest room. Carly had no idea where he was. That was probably for the best.

Jack looked… As handsome as he always did, but he also looked tired. News from Neo Domino had been scarce. She knew the Ark Cradle had disappeared but she had no idea what else had gone down in the meantime. Had the rioting stopped?

"Is everyone okay?" she asked. Jack sighed.

" _Crow and the twins are fine. We don't know where Yusei and Aki are but they're alive_."

Carly slumped in relief. It wasn't great but it could have been worse. "And the city?"

" _Bad_." Jack didn't mince words. " _It's bad. Stay away for now_."

"Okay." Carly bit her lip and glanced down at her injured hand again. This was the reason why she was talking to Jack again in the first place. "Tell me what happened to me."

Jack faltered, as he had every other time she'd brought up the subject. But now she wasn't letting it go without getting answers.

" _What do you remember?"_

"Barely anything. It had something to do with the Arcadia building, didn't it? And I have these scars I don't remember getting." She held up her hand. Jack leaned closer to the screen, eyebrows scrunched together.

" _Scars?_ "

"One on my hand, one on my stomach. Like I've been stabbed with something."

" _But you never had those—"_

Finally someone believed her! "I know! But suddenly they were there and I can't remember getting them. Steph says I've always had them and they're in every picture too!"

" _I don't understand—"_ Jack fell silent. " _I'll need to check something, Carly. I don't know where those came from, but I have an idea. I just need to make sure and I can't do that right now. Until they return…"_ He growled. " _Sorry, I can't tell you how that happened, but I can tell you the rest. You remember Arcadia?"_

"Not really, but it has something to do with that, doesn't it? And I keep thinking of hummingbirds…"

Jack flinched violently. " _So you remember that too."_

"It's this feeling. Not really bad, but weird."

That gave Jack pause.

"Jack. You promised."

Jack nodded. "You know about the Signers and the Crimson Dragon." He bared his right forearm, showing the Birthmark Carly had seen many times before. "The Crimson Dragon fights a war with creatures called Earthbound Gods. They're monsters. They kill hundreds of people just by appearing."

Oh. Carly shuddered. That would explain why the Arcadia building had been destroyed. "Was I killed by one?"

"No. The Earthbound Gods had Dark Signers, counterparts to us that they used as their hosts." He took a deep breath. "You were one."

"Oh."

Carly sat back on the bed. Oh. Okay.

"Carly?"

"Just give me a second." It explained why there was a period in her life she had absolutely no memory of. But it didn't yet explain anything else. "So it happened at Arcadia? Why am I remembering hummingbirds?"

"The Earthbound God that possessed you was a monster called Aslla Piscu," Jack said. "It was a giant hummingbird. All of them had been sealed in the Nazca lines before and it had been sealed in the Hummingbird glyph."

Carly did a quick search and pulled up the glyph on her laptop. It struck something within her, the same familiar feeling she'd felt upon seeing pictures of the ruined Arcadia building. A kind of alien pressure. Not stifling exactly, but more like a blanket wrapped around her on a slightly too warm night.

"And you defeated them? What happened to the monsters?"

"They were sealed again. They won't be reappearing for another 5000 years."

That was probably for the best. Carly wrapped an arm around her middle. She still had so many questions. Her head was buzzing with them as it often was when she'd picked up a particularly interesting story. She'd need an hour and a blank piece of paper to get all of them out.

There was a shout on Jack's end of the call. Jack looked up, annoyance written all over his face. "Just hold on a minute!" he shouted. He turned back to the screen. "Carly, I have to go. But…" he looked unsure now. "Please let me know something? Call me or text me if you have any questions."

"Send me the full story?" she said. "I'll send you my questions once I know everything."

"Of course. I lo—" he halted and swallowed. "Be safe."

"Yeah." Carly felt very small. "You too. Be careful."

She ended the call before she could say anything stupid and let herself fall back on her bed. She didn't think she'd be watching the rest of that show now. There was far too much to think about.

 **oOoOo**

There wasn't much for Aki to take even if she'd wanted to. She wished she had warmer clothes to go to Norway, but all she had were the clothes she had been wearing when she and Sherry had gone up to the Ark Cradle. Her jumper would have to provide enough protection until they were inside. She took her deck and her duel disk. She didn't truly need the latter anymore to summon monsters, but it was a useful aid and with a monster as powerful as Rainbow Dragon, she wasn't taking risks.

"Ready?" Antinomy asked when she ran into him moments later. She nodded and he led her back to the entrance, where Delta Eagle was stalled alongside Paradox's and Aporia's D-Wheels. It looked a little worse for wear still. Aki thought of her own D-Wheel, left behind in Tops and now probably long-destroyed. Antinomy saw her grimace and drew the wrong conclusion.

"I've been trying to get her fixed up, but I need more parts and we don't have them any more."

"Is it safe to use?"

"Yeah, don't worry. The time travel mechanism is in perfect shape. She just isn't as fast as she should be."

Gee, what a disaster. She followed Antinomy outside and took a seat when he gestured for her to do so.

"So, where to?"

"Bergen." Aki had memorized the address when she'd left for Norway, on the off-chance that no one would be able to meet her at the airport and she'd have to take a taxi on her own. She still remembered it now. Antinomy put in the address, hesitated for a second over the date, but eventually entered the day after they'd all left Neo Domino City.

"He's probably worried about you. This way, it won't have been too long," he explained softly. Aki grimaced. She wished she could go to the city and at least find out how Crow and Jack and the twins were doing. But it wasn't safe for them to be traveling together. Johan wouldn't sell them out to the authorities and no one was likely to come looking for them in Norway.

"Okay, hang on," Antinomy said, starting the engine. Aki tightened her grip. Driving along on someone else's D-Wheel wasn't a comfortable experience. Antinomy sped up and Aki gritted her teeth against the wind. Then a flash, a brief moment of disorientation and suddenly the outside air was far cooler and instead of darkness, she was met with a bright midday sun. Antinomy brought Delta Eagle to a stop on a dirt road in the middle of a forest. Was this the same forest Johan had shown her when she'd stayed in Bergen? Aki dismounted on shaky legs. Antinomy followed suit, steadier.

"Johan Andersen lives about a kilometer from here, but I set the coordinates for this place so no one would notice us," he said. Smart thinking. They took off down the road, heading downhill. Aki chanced a look at him. The future hadn't left them with many chances to talk without the risk of being interrupted, but now there was no one here but them.

"How're you doing?" she asked. Antinomy stared straight ahead.

"I'm sorry I got you mixed up in all of this. I shouldn't have. You should just go back to Neo Domino and we'll make it so that you never got involved with us."

"Not what I was asking," Aki said.

Antinomy didn't say anything for a while. Aki waited patiently.

"I miss Z-one," he said at long last. His hands tightened on the handles of Delta Eagle. "It's stupid, I knew one of us could die at any moment. But even with all the times we failed, we always survived. I never thought that Z-one would… Z-one's always been there and now he isn't. I don't know what we're supposed to do."

Z-one… She hadn't really talked to him even when they were on the Ark Cradle, and he'd creeped her out more than anything else. But Yusei had talked to him and Yusei still seemed upset about his death.

"Was Z-one really Yusei?" she asked. It seemed impossible. They were nothing alike. The Yusei she knew would never make the kind of plans Z-one had made. He never would have considered destroying Neo Domino, of all places.

"The attack of the Machine Emperors broke us all, but I think Z-one had it worst. People relied on Fudou Yusei in order to save them, and he failed. I don't think there was a lot of Yusei left in him, in the end." Antinomy sighed. "But he protected us and he did so much for us."

"We didn't survive in the future, did we?"

Antinomy shook his head. "Only Yusei. I'm sorry."

It was scary, to think that she could be killed in just a few years. Surely they'd find another way to prevent all of this from happening. Perhaps Antinomy knew how she had died. Would die? She almost asked, then decided she didn't want to know after all.

The forest opened up onto a cliff, with Bergen down in the distance. Aki recognized the place. She brightened as she took in the familiar landscape. "This way," she called over her shoulder, already heading down the stairs that led to the town. "Johan's house is only a few minutes from here."

Antinomy carefully maneuvered Delta Eagle down the stairs. "Nice place," he muttered. Aki smiled and nodded.

"I used to come here with Blue Rose Dragon, once I could see her." As if on cue, the tiny dragon appeared, unnoticed by Antinomy. Aki debated summoning her, but they'd be entering the town soon and the dragon would raise questions she didn't want to answer.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Aki led them into the town, moving unerringly towards the street where Johan lived. From the forest, they could have reached his garden and entered through the backdoor, but Johan was paranoid on the best of days. Now, with Neo Domino in ruins, he would be on high alert. Thank god it was Antinomy with her, not Paradox.

Johan's street was thankfully deserted when they entered it. In the middle of the day, most people were off to work. Aki walked up the familiar porch and was about to ring the doorbell when Blue Rose Dragon chirped happily and a flash of blue caught her eye.

"Hi Ruby," she whispered. Antinomy looked around futilely. Ruby Carbuncle headbutted Blue Rose Dragon and chirped a greeting at them, then flew through the door inside the house. Moments later, she heard footsteps down the hall and Johan Andersen appeared in the doorway.

"Aki! Oh thank god!"

He rushed out and caught her in a hug, then pulled away to study her. "Everyone said you'd disappeared. Are you okay? How'd you get here?" He finally seemed to notice Antinomy. "Friend of yours?"

Aki smiled. "I'm fine, we're safe. This is Antinomy. Ah, Bruno."

Johan's eyes narrowed; Antinomy shifted uncomfortably. Aki had talked about Bruno when she'd stayed with Johan, but she'd never told him everything she knew.

"You're a friend of Paradox."

Ah, right. She _had_ mentioned that.

Antinomy flinched but squared his shoulders. "Yes."

"Then you'll understand that we aren't exactly happy to see you."

Antinomy seemed to take it in stride. "I'm sorry for what Paradox did to you," he said, "but I won't apologize for trying to change our future."

Johan snorted bitterly. "Funny way of going about it."

"Guys," Aki interrupted with a quick glance at the street. "Can we take this inside?"

Johan shook his head and moved aside to let them pass. As he did, Aki saw another monster appear: Wonder Magician. She didn't look happy. Johan locked eyes with her and the resulting staring contest lasted long enough for even Antinomy to notice. Aki sighed. Maybe bringing Antinomy here had been a bad idea. Johan and the Gem Beasts were very protective of one another, and that coupled with the Tech Genus, who only cared for Antinomy? Bad combination. At least it was still better than Paradox.

Most of the other Gem Beasts were in the living room when they entered. "Aki!" Sapphire Pegasus greeted. "Good to see you!"

Aki acknowledged them with a smile. It really was good to see them. If they could keep things civil until she summoned Rainbow Dragon, it would be great.

"Where did you go? What happened?" Johan asked, steering her towards the kitchen table. Aki gestured at Antinomy, who was standing awkwardly in the door opening, Wonder Magician hovering over his shoulder and staring at the Gem Beasts with narrowed eyes.

"There was a failsafe. We were able to evacuate, but we lost…" Aki shook her head. She hadn't even known Mizoguchi all that well. "Crow and Jack and the twins are still in Neo Domino. We don't know how they're doing." She curled in on herself. She hoped Yusei would let her know something soon.

Johan sat her down and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. "I can answer that. They're fine. They're with Kaiba Corp. Mokuba told me just a few hours ago."

 _Oh._ Aki's face split in a smile. Antinomy relaxed visibly and answered her smile with a grin of his own. "Thank god. Thank you for telling us. Yusei's gone to find them."

"I've let Aporia know," Antinomy held up his phone. Aki took a moment to calm her racing heart. They were okay. They were safe. Her actions hadn't destroyed everything. She touched her deck and felt her own relief echoed back at her by her monsters.

"So are you okay? Not that we're not glad to have you, but maybe you should go find your friends?" Johan asked. Right.

"Yusei's going back to get them. There's something I wanted to show you."

"Oh?"

Aki cast a quick glance around the room. No one was standing on anything breakable. Good. She waved a hand almost as an afterthought and her power, now closer to the surface than it had ever been, rushed out, turning every spirit in the room solid. Blue Rose Dragon cooed happily and settled onto her lap. Antinomy glanced up at Wonder Magician and smiled briefly, not at all surprised to see her.

Johan was staring at her, excitement barely hidden in his eyes as Ruby curled around his shoulders. "You— You got your powers back? Really?"

"Really." Aki scratched Blue Rose Dragon behind her wings, allowing herself a brief smile. "I got them back in the semifinals and I wanted to come here before we did anything else."

"We can get Judai back…" Johan whispered. He shook his head. "Have you been in touch with Manjoume? Asuka?"

"Not yet." She sighed. She wanted to go to Neo Domino so badly.

"I'll contact them." Johan took a deep breath and cast a look around the house, meeting the Gem Beasts' eyes in turn. "How long can you stay? This is very sudden and we don't know where Judai is right now, so I'll have to prepare."

Aki hadn't thought of that. Summoning Rainbow Dragon so the dragon could cross to another dimension was one thing, but if there were really twelve dimensions like Johan had said, and Judai could be in any of these, how would they find him? She glanced at Antinomy, who shrugged.

"We can stay however long you need, but we can also come back some other day, if that's more convenient. Or Aki can stay and I can come back to pick her up."

Johan looked sorely tempted by the latter suggestion. He leaned back in his chair and glanced at Wonder Magician, still hovering protectively. The sight seemed to amuse him. "You can stay," he decided after a few seconds. "We're ready now. I can leave by tomorrow."

"You're going alone?" Antinomy asked. Johan gestured around the room.

"I'm never alone. I'm going to contact the others and I'll let you know what they decide." He looked at Aki and his face fell. "Do you want me to pass anything on? To your family?"

What could she tell her family that wouldn't have them on the first plane to Norway? They had never even known the true purpose of her first stay in Norway. As far as her parents knew, Johan had been supposed to help her live with the loss of her powers, not make her regain them.

"No, we'll be going to Neo Domino afterwards." She hesitated. Antinomy flinched, eyes downcast. "Can you tell them that Yusei's coming, maybe?"

"I'll do my best." Johan had already taken out his phone. "Your room's still free. You know the way, right?"

Aki nodded. The atmosphere in the room had turned heavy after Johan's initial elation. Behind his back, the Gem Beasts were exchanging looks and Aki remembered what Amethyst Cat had told her just last week. Could it be that, in truth, they had hoped she wouldn't regain her powers?

But this had been her reason for coming all along. She turned on her heels and made her way out of the room, nudging Antinomy as she went past. "C'mon. They need time to prepare."

 **o** **OoOo**

The weather had turned since yesterday. No longer the blue skies that had overseen the destruction of the Ark, but a grey, rainy and miserable day. Somehow it felt too normal for the aftermath of everything that had transpired in Neo Domino.

Not that Yusei was in Neo Domino right now. Sherry and Paradox had gone straight on to the city, where they'd found Sherry's apartment ransacked but were still in the process of extracting the information Security hadn't found. Paradox had sent that update to Aporia, who'd felt compelled to share it with Yusei. He and Yusei had arrived about a hundred kilometers away from the city, on an abandoned spot near the coastline. Yusei had spent the past five minutes trying to ping Jack and Crow. He didn't dare call them. He had no idea if they were at all safe.

Aporia had wandered off to look out over the sea after his little update and Yusei felt profoundly relieved that he was the one to join him instead of Antinomy or Paradox. The worst Aporia had ever done to him was punch him. He pocketed his phone and sat down on the dirt road, hands finding a small rock to toy with. If Jack and Crow had gotten arrested, if their phones had been confiscated… Yusei was not above staging a jailbreak.

His phone buzzed. Yusei almost dropped it in his hurry to pull it out. Crow.

 _safe, where r u_

Safe. Yusei closed his eyes. They were safe. He texted back for more details. They were with Yugi-san. Huh. Personally he would have gone to Martha.

Then he remembered Crow's kids and Security declaring all of them terrorists. And he also remembered Antinomy's explanation. If they did end up changing anything in 2011, would that affect their lives? Crow hadn't even been born yet when Zero Reverse took place, let alone any of his kids or the kids Martha took care of. What if they ended up erasing them from existence?

He stalked over to Aporia and showed him Crow's messages. There was a parking garage, Crow had said. Abandoned now since most residents of the building Yugi-san lived in had left the city once the Ark had appeared. He and Aporia arrived there a minute later and Yusei was immediately ambushed by Jack and Crow.

"Oh thank fuck," Crow kept muttering. Jack's eyes landed on Aporia and his eyes narrowed.

"Who the hell is he?" he asked Yusei. Yusei grimaced.

"Not here."

"Where's A—" Crow looked pained, the same anger that Yusei knew extremely well flitting across his face. "The rest of them?"

"Safe. I'll explain." The parking garage was entirely dark and Yusei couldn't shake the feeling that someone was going to walk in on them any moment now. He had no clear lines of sight. He had no idea who could be coming in behind any of the large concrete pillars. Crow had said something about Ushio and Mikage being on their side, but how well would that explanation hold up in the face of some panicked rich guy utterly convinced the Ark was some ploy to steal his Lamborghini?

Crow and Jack led them upstairs through a service stairwell. Only when they were on the right floor and Yugi-san and Mazaki-san ushered them in, did Yusei relax marginally. Aporia's presence was as unwelcome as it had always been, but at least he had Jack and Crow again.

Yugi-san and Mazaki-san lived in an area that wasn't quite Tops but came extremely close to it. They still owned the shop, Yugi-san had told him on a previous occasion, but they didn't live there anymore, Yugi-san's fame making it too much of a hazard. Instead they lived here, on the top floor of an apartment building that looked exceedingly normal from the outside and had the kind of security measures Security could only dream of on the inside. At least the actual apartment was nice, furniture that would have looked minimalistic if it hadn't been covered by cards and ballet folders and the occasional jacket strewn around. Yugi-san pressed a glass of orange juice into his hands and sat him down on a chair facing the sofa Jack and Crow had claimed.

The twins were safe as well, they told him. They'd be meeting up soon. They'd talked to Mikage and Ushio and they at least believed that they hadn't meant to destroy the city. Their D-Wheels had all been confiscated but Ushio-san might be able to pull some strings to get them back.

And in turn Yusei explained. Tried to, at least, but Aporia had to chip in every once in a while to clarify the details of everything that had gone down. Crow pulled a face when he told them about Aki and Antinomy going to Norway.

"They'll meet us in 2011. If you want to come, of course," he finished the story. Jack snorted, leaning back on the sofa opposite of the chair Yusei had taken.

"Of course we're coming. What do you take us for?"

Crow didn't say anything. Yusei tried to meet his eyes, but he stared right past all of them out of the window.

"The kids," he muttered. Ah. Yes, the kids. Of course Crow had thought of the very same things that had crossed Yusei's mind earlier.

"We can keep an eye on them," Yugi-san said kindly. Crow snorted.

"Not the issue. They can look after themselves perfectly well."

"Then—"

"You," Crow said. He didn't even come up to Aporia's chest but Aporia eyed him warily anyway. "All the stuff you change. How do you stop people from disappearing?"

Aporia hesitated long enough for the answer to be abundantly clear. Yusei shouldn't even be surprised. Why would they care about anyone who wasn't part of their little group?

"There are options." Aporia always looked awkward in a way none of his former selves had ever been and on any other day, Yusei would probably be more interested in the reasons for that. Right now, he refused to meet their eyes, instead staring at some unspecified patch of wallpaper. "A time traveler is not affected."

"They're _kids_!"

"Oh, no!" Aporia's eyes widened. "We're not taking them along! But if they make one hop, just a few seconds backwards or forwards, they will be unaffected by any changes you make."

"Do it."

"But," Aporia steeled himself. He met Crow's eyes head on and they were caught in a battle of wills, neither willing to look away, "they will notice all changes. They will remember what life was like before and what it is now. You can hope it will be better. It might not be."

Ugh, right. That again. Crow visibly faltered, but Yusei already knew what would win out.

"Better that than erasing them."

"All right. We will take care of that."

"Which brings us to another issue," Mazaki-san said before the discussion could drag on. "Ruka-chan and Rua-kun are currently staying with Security. We or Kaiba Corp are of course perfectly willing to look after them but there have been… complications."

Were even the twins not safe in this city anymore? They were Tops. If any of them should have escaped this mess unscathed, it was them.

"Their parents," Yugi-san started to say; and Jack, Crow and Yusei made simultaneous noises of disgust. Oh, _now_ the twins' parents deigned to show up?

Yugi-san frowned at them. "Yes, well. Rua-kun and Ruka-chan ran away from home, very soon after you disappeared. They're safe, Ushio-san picked them up, but they refuse to return home. Their parents are just as adamant to reclaim custody."

Mazaki-san leaned forward, dark eyes very serious. "I do not need to tell you that their parents still have parental rights. Their claim will hold up in any court of law."

"But from what I know of your group," said Yugi-san, "they will not stay put even if they are returned to their parents' care."

Yusei bit on the inside of his cheek. No matter how he looked at it, Neo Domino was still safer for the twins than any time travel adventure they embarked on. Their parents, awful as they were, would keep them safe from the public. There was no reason to send the twins into danger when there was no need for that.

But he met Jack and Crow's eyes across the living room table. Rua and Ruka would never settle for it. He needed to talk to them.

 **oOoOo**

Ruka stared. Yusei was leaving. He was leaving with Jack and Crow and Aki and everyone else and going to the past. And they wanted to leave them behind? In Neo Domino where they knew nearly no one? Oh, they had more than enough friends at Duel Academia, but all of their families would immediately contact their parents if they dared to show their faces on their doorsteps. Perhaps Mikage-san and Ushio-san could keep them safe for a while, but how long was that going to last? They had been locked in this one office in the main City Hall for over a day now, too afraid to go outside and get reported by a well-meaning but clueless Security officer. Mikage-san and Ushio-san weren't doing themselves any favors by helping them.

Yusei had come to find them and brought the giant man who was somehow Lucciano-kun and the other members of Team New World all in one person. Jack and Crow hadn't come — too many wanted people in one place. Was he just here to say goodbye?

She shared a look with Rua. There was no way they could stay here. She wasn't going back to Tops and she sure wasn't going to stay locked in this one room and survive on soda and take-out sandwiches until she turned 18.

"Yusei," she began carefully. "I understand why you want us to stay here, but we need to come along. You'll need all the Signers together, right?"

Yusei shook his head. "I know you two are very capable of helping out, but the city is still safe for you two. You'll be much better off here than in the past. If something goes wrong… I couldn't forgive myself."

"And what if something happens to you and we never see you again?" Rua snapped. Ruka nodded.

"Yeah, you think we could live with that?"

"I understand, but—"

"It's simple," Aporia cut in. Ruka looked up, trying to keep her fear well-concealed. This was what Lucciano-kun had become? "If you go back to the past right now, there's a very good chance you won't be able to come back to Neo Domino City ever again."

"Why?"

It was Yusei who explained. He looked so conflicted himself and Ruka knew how much this had to be costing him. Yusei loved Neo Domino more than the rest of them combined. She understood his fear, really. But on the other hand…

"That's not a problem," Rua said. Ruka nodded.

"Our parents are ready to lock us up at this very moment. If they find us, we won't see the outside of our rooms until we're in our twenties. There's no way we're going back there. If that means leaving Neo Domino, it's not like we won't have the rest of you, right?"

Yusei glanced to the side. He'd already known that. Aporia snorted. "Don't discount your parents, Ruka. You'll miss them when they're gone."

"They've been gone our entire lives," said Rua. "Pretty sure we'll be fine."

"Look, I can't in good conscience let you two come with us to the past," Yusei said. "But I do understand the problem. Your parents were never…" He trailed off, face showing exactly what he thought of their parents. "I just don't want to see your places here in Neo Domino erased." He fell silent, deep in thought. "If they traveled to the future, would they still be able to undo their reason for traveling?"

Aporia thought about it. The twins waited with bated breath. The future was still far better than staying here.

"It's still possible, but far less likely. For some strange reason, causality does seem to maintain a certain kind of chronological linearity."

That meant very little to Ruka, but Yusei nodded along earnestly. "They would be safer?"

"Given that their reason for traveling is their parents and from what I hear, they're not likely to change through anything we do, I believe they'll be fine."

"So we can travel to the future?" Rua said, bright smile already in place. Yusei nodded.

"I guess, if you really don't want to stay here. But we've got to find a safe place for you to stay, I won't have you wandering around alone!"

"I will accompany them for the initial adjustment period," Aporia said. "There are… questions we haven't been able to answer yet. Perhaps a Signer might be able to help us." He fell silent. "It is, however, a dangerous period."

"When?" Yusei asked.

"2043."

Rua and Ruka looked at each other. That didn't mean much to them, but Yusei reacted as if stung. "Wait, you can't send them there! That's far too dangerous!"

"Which is why I'll be joining them," Aporia said patiently. "If things get out of hand, we will be able to evacuate quickly."

"What's in 2043?"

"That's when the Machine Emperors will appear," Yusei said, downcast. "Look, Aporia, I don't like this. I know you know when it's gonna take place and all, but what if something goes wrong? What if we change something in the past and as a consequence, the date changes?"

"We'll know."

"What if you don't?"

"We'll take that risk," Ruka said. "Yusei, please, we want to do something and if you're not letting us come to the past, then this is the next best thing. If something does go wrong," she glanced at her brother, "Rua can heal us, right? And if all else fails, you guys can come save us before we die."

Yusei looked at Aporia, who nodded. "It has happened before. It is entirely possible."

"I don't agree," Yusei said with a sigh, "but I suppose it's better for you two than staying here."

Rua pumped his fist. Ruka smiled. "So what is it that you need us for in 2043?"

Aporia sighed and took a seat with them at the large conference table. "Unfortunately, we haven't yet been able to gather all the data we need. When the Neo Domino Momentum Reactor went out of control, it caused a chain reaction that set off all the reactors in Neo Domino City and later in all of Japan. But there were warning signs before the reactor in Neo Domino went out of control. What we need to know is if those signs were also present in the other reactors across the country or if they were functioning fine before the Neo Domino central reactor set them off. It would help us understand what exactly happened, but so far none of us have had the time yet to figure it out."

"Time?" Yusei raised his eyebrows. Aporia chuckled.

"Yes. Ironic, isn't it? All things considered, we have only been traveling around for perhaps ten years of our lives at most, less than that for Antinomy and Paradox. And we often stayed in one place for months or even years. There are only four of us. We can't do everything at once."

"So what do you want us to do?" Rua asked. Aporia turned serious.

"There were many Momentum reactors across the country by the time the Machine Emperors appeared, but most of them were in labs or universities and getting in there requires credentials we couldn't always be bothered to forge. But there are a few Momentum reactors in Tokyo located in secondary schools. If you guys could get in one of those, you could probably see what's going on." He let out a wry laugh. "Schools are a pretty good breeding ground for negative emotions. If the signs are going to show up anywhere, it'll be there."

"You want us to travel through time just to go back to school?" Rua said, disbelieving. But Yusei nodded seriously.

"I think it's a good idea. You need to keep up with your education."

Ruka could almost feel Rua rolling his eyes. She wasn't really opposed; she'd always liked school better than Rua. "So you can get us into a school?" she asked.

Aporia nodded. "There's one, the school Antinomy used to attend when he was your age. He'll know the ins and outs of it."

"Antinomy went there?" Yusei asked, face doing something complicated. "Which school was it?"

"Keio Shonan-Fujisawa," Aporia said. "It's not the only school with a Momentum reactor but we can't check all of them. So one is enough for now." He stared down at Ruka and Rua. "It will be hard work. It's not an easy school to attend and we don't have the time to bail you out if your grades aren't up to par. So do try to keep up the ruse."

Ruka nodded seriously. Rua looked uncertain; her brother wasn't always equipped for the amount of work that school required and while they didn't know of the particular school Aporia had mentioned, they did know of Keio University. Getting in there was tough. Bruno had been supposed to go there? Then how had he become a pro duelist?

"We'll do it," Rua said next to her, looking determined. "Just tell us what we need to look for, we'll figure it out."

"Good." Aporia got up, as did Yusei. "You'll need to come back to the future with me for a little bit. It's far easier to show you than to tell you."

Ruka and Rua both got up. It wasn't without risk, looking for changes in a Momentum reactor so close to it going out of control. But they'd be away from Neo Domino. Their parents would never find them in Fujisawa 12 years in the future. They'd finally be able to breathe easily.

* * *

 _So about that update schedule huh?_

 _Yeah, I have no excuse. Part two in a week._


	28. XXIII - Moving (pt 2)

**XXIII. Moving (part 2)**

Johan Andersen left the very next morning before dawn. Antinomy followed him and Aki out into the woods near Bergen. Everything was still dark and quiet. Only the distant noises of cars and the state of the well-trodden path told him they were still in the past and not in his future, where no people still existed.

Johan was carrying a backpack that frankly seemed too large for him. He was struggling to hold it, but he didn't seem bothered. Aki had remarked on the size of his backpack and Johan had told them that once he made it to another dimension, the Gem Beasts would be around to help him.

They reached the middle of a clearing that was barely large enough to hold a duel on. Aki eyed the place with a frown. "You sure this is large enough?" she asked.

"It might cost us some trees." Johan shrugged, a sheepish look on his face. "Just try to get out of here before anyone comes to check out the mess, okay?"

People would be coming over regardless. No matter how deep in the woods they were, if Johan's stories were correct, then Rainbow Dragon was still taller than the trees surrounding them. An actual dragon combined with a dimensional portal? Antinomy was glad he had Delta Eagle with him; they might need to get out right away.

"Okay, ready?" Aki asked. Johan took a deep breath and nodded, glancing back down the path they'd come from. Antinomy took a step back. Aki stood in the middle of the clearing and looked up.

"Are you ready as well?" she asked to thin air. Whatever answer she got seemed to satisfy her. She shifted her stance into something Antinomy had seen Paradox do: feet apart at shoulder width, knees slightly bent. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out a few times. Then she moved her arm in a gesture far more forceful than the other times he had seen her summon monsters. Antinomy barely had the time to duck out of the way before the enormous shape of a dragon covered the skies and what little light the moon and stars provided. It was huge, far bigger than any monster he'd ever seen. This was Rainbow Dragon.

Back when he'd still dueled, Rainbow Dragon had been legendary. Many people his age had lamented how Johan Andersen had retired from the Pro Leagues and how he was the only person to ever summon the dragon; Antinomy himself wouldn't have minded taking it on.

Johan smiled, eyes softening as he looked up at the enormous dragon and patted its flank. "Thank you, Aki," he said. The dragon let out a soft noise — soft for a dragon, and therefore still loud enough to be heard by everyone in the vicinity. Like Antinomy had expected, the monster towered out above the trees of the forest. It could barely move without taking a couple trees down with it. It wouldn't take long before someone back in the city noticed the dragon. Johan would have to leave soon.

Aki shook her head, another gesture he'd seen Paradox make when the stress of summoning too big a monster became too much. But she looked fine, and on the Ark Cradle, she had summoned many more monsters. She stared up at Rainbow Dragon. Johan followed her eyes.

"He's big, isn't he? Took me by surprise the first time too," he said. The monster let out a low growl that resembled laughter. It bowed his head until it could face them.

"Thank you, Aki," it said as well, voice heavy and booming. Antinomy started. Even though he had seen the other Gem Beasts talk often enough in the course of the evening he'd spent in Bergen, he somehow hadn't expected the dragon to be able to talk.

"We should get going," Johan said, again with a glance towards the path they'd come from and the city lying below them. "The sun is going to come up soon. People will see."

Rainbow Dragon nodded its giant head and reared up, spreading massive wings in the process. Its wings brushed past the treetops, causing a shower of leaves and branches. Antinomy moved into the clearing, closer to the dragon.

"You should move back. Last time Rainbow Dragon crossed dimensions, the portal sucked in everyone nearby. I don't want you to get caught up," said Johan. Antinomy raised his eyebrows. No one had ever told them about that little tidbit.

Aki swallowed visibly. She walked forward and wrapped her arms around Johan, who hugged her back. "Be careful, okay?" Aki said. Antinomy could just detect the trembling in her voice. "I know you're prepared and all, but you said those other worlds were dangerous and—"

"Don't worry." Johan patted her on the back and released her again, resting his arms on her shoulders. "I know what I'm doing. I just need to find Judai and it'll all be fine."

Antinomy didn't find that particularly reassuring and clearly, neither did Aki. Who knew where Yuki Judai even was? Who knew if he was even still alive? His last message had been ages ago, and messages could easily be faked.

But Johan Andersen was nothing if not a determined man. He nodded, let go of Aki's shoulders and looked up at Rainbow Dragon. "Ready when you are!" he called out. The dragon flapped its wings once and flew up, rising out above the tree tops. If they hadn't been spotted before, they definitely had been now.

The keening cry the monster released had Antinomy cover his ears, and the burst of rainbow light that followed immediately after saw him blinking as stars appeared in his vision. Aki stepped back, coming to a stop right next to him. She was looking up intently, her eyes having taken on the amber sheen that always denoted her psychic powers.

"It's so powerful," she whispered to him. Antinomy could only nod. It wasn't often that he saw monsters as massive as this one.

The portal opened. Antinomy could feel the energy displaced, how it wasn't natural but instead a force way stronger than anything he could comprehend. Other dimensions. Even with all their research, they had never been able to broach that particular subject. If their current plan failed too, could it be an avenue they could pursue? Would the other dimensions hold the solution to saving their own?

Johan stepped forward, into the rainbow light. For a moment, Antinomy saw the silhouettes of all the other Gem Beasts around him. Then there was a white flash and they all disappeared , the dragon's cry the last thing he heard.

The forest was quiet. Antinomy looked around for any trace of Rainbow Dragon or Johan, but apart from the damage done to the trees above them, there was nothing. Aki let out a long breath. Her eyes took on its regular color again.

"They're gone," she announced, her voice still trembling. She swallowed. "D'you think I did the right thing, summoning Rainbow Dragon? I mean, what if something happens in those other worlds and Johan can't come back or—"

"Don't break your head over it." He wasn't going to tell her not to worry; there was a distinct possibility that Johan wouldn't make it out of the other worlds unscathed. But one thing they'd all learned early on was that losing sleep over possibilities didn't help anyone. "He wanted to do this. If you hadn't done it, he'd have found another psychic to summon Rainbow Dragon."

Aki didn't look entirely convinced. "There are no other psychics who would summon Rainbow Dragon."

"Except Paradox."

Aki flashed him a half-smile. "Like I said, no other psychics. I think Johan might sooner have thrown Paradox off a cliff than let him near Rainbow Dragon again."

… Well, she wasn't wrong.

"Like I said, don't keep thinking about it. He did what he wanted to do and he's got his monsters."

Would Johan Andersen be fine? Most likely not, but that was the price you paid for jumping into danger. Antinomy grimaced. In the far distance, the sound of sirens cut through the silence in the forest.

"We have to go," he said. Aki nodded decisively and made her way over to Delta Eagle. The D-Wheel was loaded with more food than they had been able to carry by themselves: everything Johan had still had in the house when they'd arrived. Aki had tried to convince him to at least keep the non-perishables, but he'd smiled and told her that they needed it more than he did. He wasn't wrong. Fresh food was a luxury they hadn't been able to afford very often, even after the first experiments with time travel had been successful.

Antinomy grabbed Delta Eagle and wheeled her down the path they'd come from. Delta Eagle could jump through time almost right away, but he still needed some free space to move. He turned on the engine and swung his leg over the saddle. Aki got on behind him. In the distance, the sirens sounded like they were coming closer.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

Antinomy cast a last glance around; when the emergency responders would arrive, they'd find nothing but broken branches. Perhaps, given time, some of the witnesses would be able to identify Rainbow Dragon. Soon, someone would notice that Johan Andersen had disappeared. But that wasn't any of their business. He checked his phone: both Aporia and Paradox had texted him.

"Something wrong?" Aki asked, falling in step next to him.

"Change of plans." Antinomy showed her his phone. Her eyes widened slightly as she read the messages.

"Right, the kids."

"It won't take long," Antinomy told her. He hadn't thought of Crow's kids or any of the other people he'd met during his time with Team 5D's and that didn't sit well with him. It had only been a few weeks. Had he really already fallen back into all their old patterns? At least between him, Paradox and Aporia it wouldn't take long to spare the kids from the consequences of their time travel. It'd only be a quick stop.

They reached a road with enough space for Delta Eagle to drive. He keyed in the coordinates for Neo Domino, turned the handle on Delta Eagle, and in the second flash of light that morning, they too left Bergen behind.

 **oOoOo**

When Crow-niisan, Jack and Yusei had shown up with Ushio-san, the first thing Martha had told them was to hide. Stay in their rooms and don't come out until she told them it was safe. They hadn't needed telling twice. Sure, Ushio-san had helped them before but he was still Security and Crow-niisan and everyone else were on all those wanted billboards and everyone hated Satellite now, and Hikari had never had much trust in those City people anyway.

Martha-san had gone out to meet them and they had all crowded around the window to catch a glimpse of what was going on outside. There was talking and Martha-san listening very hard. And then she had smiled. Hikari thought it had been kind of a sad smile but at least Martha-san had led them all inside and called them all down again, and then they were much too happy to see Crow-niisan again to think very hard about the City and Security and everyone else.

But all the older kids already knew that Crow-nii and Jack and Yusei were going to leave. Only Kokoro hadn't realized it yet, but it was only a matter of time. No one had told them what they were going to do or what was going on, but Hikari knew it was bad from the hushed voices when they talked to each other or Martha.

She and Kokoro were sitting in front of the house, keeping an eye on the road and sorting through her cards, when the air shimmered and two D-Wheels appeared right the hell out of nowhere. There were two men and a woman she didn't recognize, but also—

"Aki-neesan!" Kokoro shouted, taking off with Hikari right behind her. Aki-neesan smiled when they ran up to her, but Hikari thought she looked very tired and sad as well.

"Hey Kokoro," she said, bending down to her level. Hikari looked at the other men and the women suspiciously.

"Crow-niisan is inside, and Jack and Yusei too!" Kokoro was saying. Aki-neesan nodded but she really didn't look happy.

"Then I think we'd better go talk to them." She got up and held out her hand for Kokoro. The other woman — Hikari knew her: Sherry Leblanc from Team Chevalier — followed her without a word. Hikari squinted at the two men. They didn't seem inclined to follow. The one in the blue suit who was also on Team Chevalier lifted his vizor and smiled at her.

"Hey, Hikari-chan."

How did he know her name? Hikari raised the duel disk Yusei had given her for her birthday. Sure, he had come with Aki-neesan but he was also on those wanted billboards.

"Whoa, hey!" The man waved his hands. "It's okay. It's me, Bruno!"

Bruno? The man took off his helmet. It was Bruno. But Crow-niisan hadn't raised any of them to be stupid and Bruno had been on the Ark Cradle. She didn't lower her disk. The other man grinned, taking off his helmet as well.

"Looks like you have a duel on your hands, Antinomy."

Strangely, that made Bruno smile. "Ask me that again in ten years," he said, and Hikari had the weirdest impression that he was actually looking forward to it.

"Are you coming?" Sherry Leblanc shouted. Bruno shot her another smile and went inside. Hikari followed behind him and the other man. She wasn't taking any risks. The man who'd come with Bruno shot her an amused smile when he passed in front of her. She bristled.

She didn't get to hear any of the conversation between them. Martha and Crow-niisan shuffled all of the kids in another room, leaving them to try to get a glimpse of the conversation through the keyhole. It went on for a long time. There was shouting. They only got a brief moment to greet them before they were sent to the other room again. Hikari bounced in place. She'd been here for over an hour at least and she wanted out.

She snuck outside when everyone else was fighting over the best spot near the door. There was no one inside. She briefly considered doubling back and listening at the window, but if Martha or Crow-niisan found out, she'd be in a world of trouble. So she sat down on the bench to the side of the house with a sigh and started shuffling through her deck once more.

After another ten minutes, someone else came outside. The man who'd been with Bruno when he'd first arrived. Crow-niisan had called him Paradox. He raised an eyebrow when he spotted Hikari. Hikari's hand hovered over the activation button of her duel disk.

"I'm not going to fight you," Paradox said. Hikari didn't relax.

"You were on the Ark Cradle."

Paradox nodded. He looked down at her. "Look kid, you're going to be an awesome duelist one day, but right now I can beat you without even lifting my duel disk. You're brave, but the next time someone shows up and you're not entirely sure you can take them, you run. Don't try to be the hero."

Where did this guy get off on lecturing her? "I can handle myself."

"Not against grown men you can't."

He looked out in the distance. With the way the house was set up, they could see visitors coming long before the visitors saw them. It was something they'd taken advantage of many times in the past.

Hikari spotted the deck on the man's belt. She'd never seen him duel. But he'd been part of Bruno's team, hadn't he?

"Do you duel?" she asked.

"No."

"But you have a deck."

Paradox sighed impatiently and took out his deck. "It's for self-defense. If I didn't need it, I wouldn't have it."

What a weird guy. "Well if you don't need it, can I have it?" She loved the deck she'd made, but it wasn't nearly as good as she'd like.

Paradox laughed. "I still need it. But tell you what, if I somehow manage to survive all of this and I don't need a deck anymore, you can have it. Maybe you'll actually do it justice."

Hikari… Really didn't know what to say to that.

"Can I see your deck?" she said, curiosity winning out.

"Antinomy will love this," Paradox muttered, but he obediently took out his deck and passed it on to her. She shuffled through it, careful not to damage the cards. Her eyes widened. Some of these cards were expensive. She paused on Trishula and took out her own deck, thinking. If she could… She already had an Ice Barrier card, one she had found while straying far too close to B.A.D. One day. It was only a low-level monster and the edges of the card were frayed, nowhere near the mint condition Paradox's cards were in. But it had become a staple in her deck ever since she'd found it. She took it out now: Blizzed, Watcher of the Ice Barrier. It wasn't in Paradox's deck. Somehow, that made her feel better.

"Look," she said, holding up Blizzed.

"That's nice," Paradox said. She got the feeling he didn't quite get what she was trying to say, but then she also got the feeling he wasn't much of a duelist to begin with.

"Paradox, you here? Oh."

Bruno turned the corner, looking harried. He relaxed when he saw the two of them again.

"Hello again, Hikari-chan."

Hikari clutched Blizzed close to her chest. "Hello."

Bruno turned to Paradox. "We'll start getting the kids out of the timeline. Martha too, just to be sure."

"Easy enough to do."

Hikari had no idea what all of that meant. She was still holding Paradox's deck. Bruno spotted it and smiled, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Time works in weird ways," he said. Hikari narrowed her eyes.

"What does that mean?"

"When you're older, you'll know."

Hikari hated it when people said that. She got up in a huff and held out Paradox's deck to him. He took it and Hikari put Blizzed back with the rest of her cards in the deckholder Aki-neesan had given her for her birthday. She has started coming by more often before the Ark and Hikari knew Crow-niisan liked having her around. Or had. He'd shouted a lot earlier.

"How are we doing this?" Paradox asked. "Time hop?"

"Just a few seconds, yes. Aporia's coming over in a bit." Bruno walked towards the D-Wheels parked out back. "Hikari-chan, Crow will explain it to you. Can you go inside again for a bit? We need to get our D-Wheels ready."

Ugh, fine. Hikari headed back inside where, to her great relief, everyone was still waiting for them. They'd leave. Very soon. But not just yet.

 **oOoOo**

The one thing Rua absolutely did not like about this plan was the fact that Aporia would be coming with them. Antinomy would have been great. Paradox he could have dealt with. But he couldn't wrap his mind around who or what Aporia even was. A robot who was somehow all of Team New World combined?

Ruka had less trouble with it. After her initial fear, she had nodded solemnly when Yusei had explained the situation and given Aporia a sad look. Rua couldn't bring himself to feel pity. This was still Lucciano somehow and Lucciano had almost killed Ruka once before. Just because he had some kinda tragic backstory didn't mean Rua would forgive him for that any time soon.

"You will be mostly on your own," Aporia told them as he led them to the bike they'd be using to travel to the future. He had been gone for half a day, which they'd spent anxiously waiting with Mikage-san. Sure, Rua understood why they hadn't been allowed to go to Martha's as well, but he sure would have liked to join everyone else.

Aporia's bike was a monstrous thing unlike anything Rua had ever seen before. Aporia started the thing, still talking: "I will be in touch with you regularly, but you will be responsible for your day-to-day living. Will that be a problem?"

"Not exactly a change from before."

"Good. We will be providing you with funds. Your rent will be paid automatically, so you do not need to worry about that. If anyone asks, your parents are on an extended business trip and have set up an account for you. The paperwork will check out." He saw them look. "We thought it best to stick as closely as possible to your real story. But we can come up with something else if that's too uncomfortable for you."

"No, that's fine," Rua said. At least they wouldn't actually have to deal with their parents.

"Where does the money come from?" Ruka asked.

"It's better you don't know."

"But—"

Aporia chuckled. "It's not exactly legal, true. If it helps, it comes from people who won't miss it and who weren't planning on doing anything beneficial with it."

Ruka didn't look happy but she didn't protest.

"You have been enrolled and your school fees have been paid for, but you will be responsible for keeping up your grades."

Rua made a face. Dumb elite schools.

"Don't worry. If it ever gets too complicated, Antinomy or Paradox will be happy to help you out."

Bruno had helped them with their homework before so that was fine. But Paradox? Rua couldn't for the life of him imagine Paradox having the patience to sit down next to them while they did their maths homework.

Aporia gestured at his massive D-Wheel. Time to go. Rua thought he'd feel more conflicted about this. Sure, he'd miss Tenpei and Patty and everyone else, but the rest of the guys weren't staying either and without them, this city didn't exactly hold a lot of great memories. Their parents were probably organizing a nationwide manhunt right at this very moment. He did not want to stay here.

He got on the bike without another word and Ruka followed him with a look of grim determination. Aporia started the bike and carefully steered it out onto the street. For several minutes, nothing much happened. Then Aporia hit the gas and they were careening down the highway at incredibly speeds. Ruka had her eyes clenched shut and her arms wrapped tightly around him, but Rua whooped. This was amazing!

"Five seconds!" Aporia shouted. Until what, Rua wanted to asked, but then the world disappeared in a flash of light and there was only white nothingness. Another flash, and they were back on a highway, but not the Neo Domino one. All around them were signs with familiar place names. Tokyo. The models of the cars around them were strange, more streamlined than they were used to. He looked up and there was a floating island in the sky.

Well then. So this was the future.

Ruka opened her eyes and looked around with ill-disguised unease. Rua felt it too. Things had developed too fast. There was a crackle in the air telling him that things would go wrong soon. Or maybe he just felt that way because he knew it would?

"Did Neo Domino look like this too?" Ruka asked after Aporia had left the highway and maneuvered his D-wheel through wide lanes that were still only barely large enough for it. Aporia nodded.

"I may have forgotten some things with age, but the city I remember was very much like this." He gestured at the Momentum-driven… everything with barely hidden contempt.

"Lucciano…"

"Yes."

Aporia drove on without saying another word. After fifteen minutes, they arrived at an apartment block that had a lot in common with the blocks in Tops. They took an elevator straight from the garage to their floor, bypassing the lobby entirely. With the way Aporia stood out, that was probably for the best. Aporia handed both of them key cards and directed them to a room labeled 512.

The flat was far smaller than their house back in Tops: a living room with a built-in kitchen, a bathroom and two bedrooms. There wasn't a single speck of personality anywhere, just a blank slate. Rua clapped his hands together.

"I love it," he declared, grinning broadly. Ruka grinned as well.

"Yes, it's perfect."

"I'm glad to hear it. It is now Thursday during spring break. School will resume on Monday. I suggest you get familiar with the place and the way to school and get your uniforms and anything else you'd like." Aporia handed Ruka a credit card. "You won't run out of funds. I'll stay here until you're settled in but I can't join you very often. Any questions?"

"What about the Momentum reactor?"

"I'll brief you properly once school has started. It's easier when you have an idea of where everything is. Okay?"

"All right." Ruka sat down and fished a pen and a piece of paper out of her backpack. "We'll need clothes, books, food, maybe metro passes…" she smiled. "Let's go shopping."

 **oOoOo**

It was another overcast day that greeted them when they arrived on the outskirts of Domino City. They had arrived in what would later become the area between the city center and Tops. The city of Domino had expanded massively since he'd last seen it in 1994, Momentum already visible in its workings. At this early stage, the balance between Momentum-powered cars and fuel-driven ones still favored the latter. He took a moment to catch his breath and waited for the rest of the group to show up.

Aporia dropped off Jack and Crow mere minutes after Yusei himself and then disappeared again with a hasty 'good luck'. Sherry and Paradox had already gone back to the future right after they'd left Martha's, but Aki and Antinomy appeared moments later. Yusei led them through the streets downtown, keeping up half a conversation with Jack and Crow and studiously ignoring Antinomy and Aki. It was probably better than the shouting from earlier. The two of them trailed behind, deep in conversation. Yusei, unwillingly listening anyway, caught the words 'Rose Herald' and wondered once more about what it would take to achieve Clear Mind.

They needed a map to reach Yugi-san's home in the end, the city too different from what they were used to. Yusei stared up at the game shop. It had barely changed from when he'd seen it over fifteen years ago. The lettering was a little more faded, but the shop still looked inviting and his friends looked around with great interest when they entered. Yusei himself wouldn't mind spending some time here. There were so many cards that were either impossible to find or hopelessly outdated back home.

"I'll talk to them," he said as noise in the back announced the arrival of Yugi-san's grandpa.

"Welcome! How can I help you?" Mutou-san said, making his way to the counter. Like the shop, he too looked like he had barely changed in the intervening fifteen years. Yusei stepped forward and Mutou-san looked him over.

"Oh! You're… Yusei-kun, right? Has your dragon brought you back here?"

Yusei grimaced. "Something like that. Mutou-san, I'm glad to see you again."

"Good to see you too, kiddo. These are your friends?"

Yusei nodded. Mutou-san took his reappearance with remarkable aplomb.

"Yugi's not in at the moment, but I'll give him a call. I'm sure he'll show up as soon as I tell him you're here."

And so Yugi-san did, appearing in a rush fifteen minutes later, when they'd all been seated in the living room and provided with tea and coffee. He looked out of breath. Yusei got up. He'd met Yugi-san at 16 and at 50. This Yugi-san was in his early thirties.

"Yusei-kun! Everything alright?"

That was debatable. Yugi-san must have seen the look on his face, because he frowned. "That bad, huh?"

"Things didn't work out in our time. We need your help."

Yugi-san nodded, dragged over a chair from the kitchen table and took a seat. "Should I call Judai?"

"That might be for the best." Yusei glanced at the rest of the group. "Ah, I'm sorry, these are my friends: Jack and Crow. Aki. Antinomy."

"Pleasure," Yugi-san said, giving them a small, distracted smile. "You guys are all okay? Everything okay with Paradox?"

"Paradox is doing fine," Antinomy said, a harsh edge to his voice. He glared at Yusei as if daring him to contradict him. Yusei was very tempted.

"That's… good to hear." Yugi-san's eyes narrowed on Antinomy. "I'm calling Judai, just give me a minute."

He disappeared into the hallway. Yusei rounded on Antinomy.

"Can't you go five seconds without antagonizing anyone?"

"So sorry for defending my best friend, Yusei."

Yusei opened his mouth to reply, then decided it wasn't worth it. He turned away and towards Jack and Crow, who were glaring at Antinomy as well. They fell into an uncomfortable silence that only got interrupted when Yugi-san entered the living room again.

"Judai will be here in a bit," he said, looking around the room. He took in the way they were all turned away from one another and raised an eyebrow. "And I'm guessing there's a lot you have to tell us."

Yusei nodded. He didn't want to talk about it, but he'd have to, over and over again, if they ever wanted to get anywhere.

Judai arrived in a whirlwind of activity less than five minutes later, dressed in a tank top and shorts that were entirely out of place for the chilly November day. Yugi-san didn't look at all fazed by his unseasonable outfit. "Australia again?" he asked.

"Brazil, actually." He shivered. "Hi Yusei."

"Judai-san, it's been a while." This Judai had gone from slightly younger to slightly older than Yusei himself. It made the contrast more bearable.

Judai looked over the group and his eyes landed on Antinomy. "Oh hey, Timothy! Didn't expect to see you here!"

What?

Antinomy drew in on himself slightly. "Yuki-san. I didn't think you'd still remember me."

Oh, better and better. "You know each other?"

"We met once," Antinomy said and Judai-san shrugged.

"Yeah, Kaiba Corp two years ago, right? Might've been longer for you. How've you been?"

"I'm fine."

"Good, that's good." Judai-san nodded. He didn't seem compelled to dwell on the issue even though Yusei desperately wanted to ask more. They went through another round of introductions and Judai-san opened up his bag to let out Pharaoh. Yusei smiled. The cat was still just as fat as the last time he'd seen Judai-san. He lazily stretched out; Antinomy's eyes lit up at the sight of the cat. With a pang Yusei remembered how enthusiastic Bruno had always been about any cat that crossed their path. For all the lies Antinomy had told, liking cats clearly wasn't one.

"So Yusei-kun, can you tell us what happened? How can we help?" Yugi-san asked. Yusei took a deep breath and started talking, occasionally helped out by Jack and Crow. Antinomy took over for a while to tell his and Paradox's side of the story.

"So Judai-kun disappeared…" Yugi-san said. Judai-san shifted, something weary in his expression.

"You were unable to get to us?" he said.

"We were working on it," Aki said. "I managed to summon Rainbow Dragon last week—my last week. Johan's gone looking for you."

"You summoned Rainbow?" Judai-san shot her an appraising look. "Good, that's good… The Gem Beasts will be able to get him there. He'll be fine." The last part sounded more like a reassurance to himself.

"He will be," Yubel said, appearing next to Judai. They all jumped, except for Yugi-san and Aki, who must've been able to see Yubel all along.

"But I won't be able to do much about your city in the future," Judai-san said. "That's why you came here, isn't it?"

"We thought we could find out what drove the first versions of Momentum." Yusei bit his lip. "I know you've talked to my parents, I was wondering…"

"If we could give you an in? Of course," Yugi-san said. "I'll get in touch with them. They'll be happy to see you."

Yusei shifted. He really did want to meet his parents, but was that a good idea? What if by seeing his parents, they ended up changing the future so much that they couldn't go back to Neo Domino at all? Was it worth losing the city he'd spent all his life in just to meet people he'd never thought he'd be able to meet to begin with? Yusei steeled himself and looked at Antinomy. He would know.

Antinomy caught his eyes and saw the unspoken question there. "I don't know what to tell you, Yusei. Everything you do in the past could potentially change the future. It's a risk. We can get the information without ever meeting your parents, I believe." He glanced at Yugi-san for confirmation. Yugi-san looked puzzled but nodded. "So I suppose the question is, how badly do you want to meet them?"

"Yusei, you should," Jack said, but that was just it, wasn't it? He was risking not just his own life in Neo Domino, but also that of his friends. Jack and Crow would never get to meet their parents. Yusei was the only one of them who knew who his parents were. Jack didn't even know if his name was really the one his parents had given him. Crow knew for sure it wasn't.

Could he ruin their lives when they wouldn't even get anything out of it? He might have longed for his parents more times than he could count, but Jack and Crow were the family who had actually been there all along for him. If he had to choose, however much it hurt, he'd choose them every time.

So he shook his head. "I'd rather we stay under the radar. Yugi-san, Judai-san, do you think you can get in touch with them?" He glanced at Antinomy. "I'm sure we can draw up the questions we need answered."

"We can. There are a great many we never found answers to," Antinomy added.

"Are you sure?" Crow asked. Yusei nodded. It hurt, but it was for the best. They'd get the answers they needed and hopefully get a better idea of the workings of Momentum. He'd never meet his parents at all, but it wasn't like he ever really had before, except that one time with his Dad… Maybe he could sneak into the back of one of their classes or something and see them from afar. It would need to be enough. It had always been enough before.

* * *

Judai and Antinomy met once before in a story I wrote that takes place in this same universe: chapter 3 of Five Times The Incarnation of Darkness Scared Someone. You can find it in my account or on AO3.

 **Next chapter:** Back to school!

(Ngl I have been wanting to share this next chapter with you guys since forever)


	29. XXIV - Unmoving

**XXIV: Unmoving**

Fudou Keiko first noticed the new student in her Monday morning first-year physics class. It was hard not to; she knew the faces of all of the thirty-odd students who actually bothered to show up for her eight o'clock class, and the new guy stuck out like a sore thumb. He had wandered in five minutes before class started, taken a seat somewhere near the middle of the room and sat there hunched over taking notes for the next thirty minutes, baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. Did he even have the textbook? No, Keiko didn't think he did. Should she say something about it? Perhaps he'd just forgotten it. It really wasn't any of her business.

He didn't show up for her next first-year class, which only confirmed what Keiko had already suspected. One of those students who perpetually skipped class and showed up once or twice in the middle of term just to check what chapter they were on. As long as he passed the exams at the end of term, Keiko didn't really care. She forgot all about him for the next two days, until she was lecturing in front of a packed classroom of her second years, glanced to the side for a second, and spotted him again, wearing the same baseball cap and scribbling down notes. Keiko lost track of her sentence and had to start over, to the amusement of her students. What was he doing among the second years? She studied him surreptitiously. He was maybe a little shorter than Hatori. The cap obscured his face, but a few black strands of hair escaped from underneath it. Did he look familiar?

She kept an eye out for him after that, but he didn't show up in any of her classes for the rest of that week, nor the week after. She had all but given up on seeing him again when she strolled up to her Master's Quantum Mechanics class on a dreary Tuesday two weeks later and spotted him leaning against the wall. The baseball cap was still the same, but this time he glanced up just as she turned the corner. Keiko froze mid-step. The man looked down again and turned his head, but Keiko had already seen… Those eyes. Those were her eyes, in Hatori's face. That was her son. Her baby boy who was asleep back at home right now. The baby boy she'd die for soon.

She entered the classroom in a daze. They had finished… Chapter six last week? Right? That was it, right? Yusei entered the room after her, amidst curious looks from her other students. Oh, stupid boy. Did he really think he could go unnoticed in a class of people who had known each other for over three years? Keiko took a deep breath. Damage control. She could do this. If he was going to sit in her class, he was going to earn his place here.

Keiko waited until everyone had sat down before addressing the group. "As you know, we'll be moving on to chapter seven today. Before that, though, I'm sure you've noticed we have a new face in the room." Twenty heads turned to look at Yusei, who gave her a betrayed deer-in-the-headlights look. "He's here as an exchange student. Perhaps you could introduce yourself?"

Yusei fumbled withhis notebook. "Um, yeah. I'm Mizushima Daniel. I came here from Keio University in Tokyo." He tugged at the left sleeve of his jacket. "It's nice to meet you all."

"It's nice to meet you too, Daniel-kun," Keiko said. Yusei looked down again. "I am professor Fudou Keiko. Have you received the textbook for this class?"

Yusei shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, professor."

"You can share with Chieko-san for now," she said, and Hayashi Chieko, Yusei's neighbor and one of her best students, obediently pushed her book closer to him. Yusei looked briefly surprised at the sight of her, but nodded his thanks. "Come talk to me after class and we'll find you some books."

Yusei nodded. Keiko turned to the whiteboard and took a moment to breathe deeply. That was one crisis averted. She could do this. She knew the material by heart and could teach it in her sleep.

"Last week we touched upon angular momentum briefly. We've defined it, and I hope this is common knowledge, as the product of the position vector of a particle and its linear momentum." She wrote the formula on the board. "Chapter seven expands upon that. Now, as you probably already expected, angular momentum isn't the same in quantum mechanics as it is in classical mechanics. We'll still be using this formula as our starting point," she tapped the whiteboard, "but we'll need to reinterpret it."

She made it through the first hour of her class without panicking or even looking at Yusei all that much. He disappeared during break and for a few minutes, she was afraid he'd slipped off and wouldn't return, but he took his seat next to Chieko right before class started again. He stayed quiet throughout the exercises she guided the class through, but she saw him take notes furiously.

"All right, number five. Anyone?" Her class stayed silent. Keiko sighed. "Come on, guys, this was homework. I know it's a long one, but when we get through this, it's all downhill from here." Still no response. Keiko was about to call on Chieko —again— when her eyes strayed to Yusei. While everyone else was trying their hardest not to look at her or their books, he was still writing. Was he… Yes, from what little she could see, he was solving the equation. It was worth a shot.

"Daniel-kun? I know you didn't have time to prepare, but would you like to give it a try?"

Yusei jerked up. "Um, yeah. Starting from what's given—"

"Use the whiteboard," Keiko encouraged him. He got up slowly and accepted the marker without looking her in the eye. Keiko leaned back against her desk as he started writing, glancing at his notes every so often. She frowned. Some murmurs went up and Yusei paused and looked over what he'd already written.

"No, go on. You're doing well."

Truth be told, Keiko wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. It wasn't the way she'd taught her students to solve this kind of problem. But he hadn't made a mistake yet and she wanted to see where he was going with this. He quickly reached the end of his notes, frowned at the whiteboard for a second or two, and then continued on until he'd finished the full equation and also found the right answer. It was an... Interesting way of solving that equation. Not the most elegant, but essentially right. How had he come by it? Another thing to ask. Keiko glanced at the clock. Fifteen more minutes until the end of class, and then she had two hours of free time. She turned back to Yusei, who was staring at his shoes.

"Well done. It's not quite the method we would have used, but that's correct," she said. Yusei returned to his seat. "Now does anyone care to solve number six? Daniel-kun's already solved the hardest equation for you, so the rest shouldn't be too difficult."

She ended up letting her class go five minutes early. Her students didn't need telling twice; most of them were already out of the classroom by the time she'd gathered her own notes. Chieko lingered, but Keiko mouthed 'later' at her. She did need to talk to Chieko about her thesis, but today was not the day. Yusei looked torn between staying and leaving as fast as he could. Keiko took a deep breath.

"Daniel-kun, could you come here for a second? We'll need to get you your textbooks."

Yusei flinched. He didn't move away from the desk. "Professor, I'm… Thank you for covering for me, and I'm sorry. I won't sneak into your class again, I promise."

"It's not the first time I've seen you in one of my classes." Keiko kept her voice deliberately light. "I mean it, you know. If you want the books, I can get them for you. Were the other classes too easy?"

Yusei nodded reluctantly.

"I thought so. That was an unconventional method you used back there. Where did you learn it?"

Yusei glanced at the door. "Professor, I'm really sorry. I'll… I'll go now. Please don't go to any trouble on my account."

Keiko closed her eyes. "Yusei."

Her son, her baby boy, finally looked at her. "You knew?" he whispered. For a few seconds, Keiko could only take him in. Her eyes stung.

"You look so much like your dad."

"We were here and… I just wanted to see you guys." Yusei's voice broke. "Just once. But then I just wanted to learn more and—"

Keiko crossed the room in a few steps and gathered him into her arms. He was taller than her, her baby, but he shuddered and lowered his head onto her shoulder. Keiko blinked against her tears.

"I'm glad," she whispered. "I'm so glad I got to meet you."

Yusei sniffed. "I got your letter," he mumbled. She tightened her grip. Yes, that letter. The one she'd written a month ago. It had been the hardest thing she'd ever had to write.

"Did it… Did it help?"

Yusei nodded against her shoulder. "I learned a lot," he said. "I tried to learn about this stuff when I was younger, but I could never find the books, and even online…" he lifted his head. "I wasn't always sure I was doing it right."

Hadn't he been able to study? Keiko swallowed hard. Oh, what had they done? From what little she'd seen of him, he was so, so, smart, and he'd had to figure all that out on his own? That reminded her: Yusei's equation was still on the whiteboard. She reluctantly let go of him and rubbed at her eyes. "You got that equation right, though. Those are high-level quantum mechanics."

Yusei looked away. "I didn't do it like I was supposed to," he muttered.

"You didn't do it like my students learned to do it," Keiko corrected. "You still got the right outcome and everything is solid. Where did you learn that?"

"I just tried to figure it out on my own. It made sense."

Keiko's eyes widened. Yes, she had hoped that her son would be smart, but to work out symmetries in quantum mechanics on his own? "Can I show you something?" she asked. Yusei nodded. She took his arm and guided him back to the whiteboard, picking up a marker along the way.

"Look, here." She uncapped the marker. "You start out like we would've, but then here you add a step." She marked it. "You don't need to do that if you don't want to. You don't really need this part, see?"

She reworked the equation. Yusei nodded. "I see. Doesn't that make it more confusing later on?"

"Not really, no." She quickly worked through the rest of the problem. Yusei was a fast learner; by the time she got halfway through, he was predicting the steps for her.

"There, got it?" She capped the marker again. Yusei smiled eagerly.

"Yeah!" He looked so happy, just from solving a problem most of her students would have been happy to pretend didn't exist. It almost broke her heart. She had to look away and swallow before she got her voice back under control.

"Do you want the textbooks?"

Yusei looked like Christmas had come early. "I can really have them?"

Oh, she wanted to give him so much more. She would buy him every book in existence if she could. "Of course," she whispered. "I keep a few spare copies in my office. Do you have some time?"

Yusei nodded quickly and went to grab his notes and his bag. Keiko collected her own, keeping an eye on him all the while. With the baseball cap gone, there was no mistaking him for anything else but Hatori's son. No wonder he'd kept it on all this time. Her baby. She didn't even know how he'd made it here, but she just wanted to keep him safe and give him whatever he wanted.

"Mom?" he asked quietly. It broke her out of her reverie, just that one word. She felt short of breath. "Do you think I could come back to class?"

"You're always welcome here," she told him. Yusei smiled and followed her out of the room, waiting for her when she locked it. "My office is just on the floor below. It's not far."

Yusei nodded and followed, eyes wide. If only all her students listened so well. She took his hand again. She couldn't help it: this was her son and she wanted to spend all the time she could spare with him. "Come on. I have two hours. You have to tell me about yourself."

 **oOoOo**

"I'm bringing over a student this afternoon, is that okay?"

Hatori hummed, pressing the phone more tightly between his ear and shoulder, and continued typing. "No problem. Are they staying for dinner?"

"Perhaps," Keiko said after a brief pause. "Actually, yeah, I think they will be."

"All right." It wasn't every day that Keiko brought over students, but it wasn't exactly unheard of either. And he was ahead of schedule, now that Yusei slept through the nights and took his afternoon naps without complaining, so he could afford to take the evening off.

"Okay, I'll be home by six. Love you!"

"Love you too." Hatori smiled as he ended the call. He glanced at the clock; two hours to get some more work in before Keiko got home. He looked back at the e-mail Rex had sent him and his smile turned into a frown. Yes, he already knew Momentum was acting more volatile than they'd originally expected. He also knew the reason for it. Not for the first time, he wondered if he should tell his colleagues about what was coming, just to give them a chance to escape. He shook his head. There was still time. He'd talk it over with Keiko and decide what to do some other day. Today was too nice a day to worry about their impending doom.

It had been three years since Mutou Yugi and Yuki Judai had first visited his office and told him about his son and their impending deaths. In those three years, he and Keiko had done everything to get their affairs in order. They'd even debated not having children at all, but when Keiko had turned out pregnant unexpectedly, neither of them had wanted to give up on the child. Right now, he wouldn't give up Yusei for the world.

Hatori got up and stretched his arms out, glancing back at the crib in the corner. Yusei was still fast asleep, but he'd be waking up soon for his afternoon bottle. Fermat jumped onto his desk and nudged at his hand. He smiled and petted the cat. Mission accomplished, Fermat flopped down on top of his work files and curled up.

He managed to work around the cat for another hour, and by the time Yusei started fussing about, it was past four and Keiko would be home soon. He'd promised he'd cook today. He might as well get started on that.

Dinner was to be teriyaki because he didn't feel like putting in too much effort today. If Keiko was bringing home one of her grad students, they'd probably be happy to just have a warm meal that wasn't instant ramen. He remembered his own college days far too well.

He hoped idly that Yusei would be able to eat better than they had before realization set in, and a cold chill crept down his spine. He wouldn't be, at least not for the first several years. It was a horrible idea to deal with, and he didn't care for it today.

Hatori finished setting up the table just as he heard the key turn into the lock and Keiko entered, talking to her student in low voices. He caught, "Don't worry, he'll be fine with it," and smiled, making his way to the living room just as the door opened. He stepped forward, ready to greet Keiko's student—

And came face to face with his son.

It was undeniably Yusei in front of him, the boy with Keiko's eyes and his face he'd first seen in Yugi-san's and Judai-san's picture all those years ago. He was wearing an outfit that wouldn't be out of place among all the other students at university and looking at him with wide eyes. Keiko stepped out from behind him and smiled.

"Guess who showed up in my class today?"

"Hi Dad," Yusei mumbled, face heartbreakingly insecure. For a second, Hatori had no idea what to do. Then he stepped forward and engulfed him in a hug.

"Did you travel through time?" he asked. It was the first question he could think of. Yusei nodded, wrapping his arms around his back.

"Is everything okay?"

Yusei froze. He shook his head and slowly let go of Hatori.

"We tried to change things but—" he swallowed. "It didn't go right. And now the city's worse than ever and I don't know how to fix it."

He took a deep, shuddering breath. Hatori clasped his shoulder; Keiko moved to stand next to them.

"It'll be all right," she said. "We'll think of something. You can time travel, right? There are infinite possibilities."

Yusei nodded shakily. " 'M sorry for bothering you with this."

Hatori exchanged a pained looked with Keiko over Yusei's bowed head. "Don't ever think you can't tell us what's bothering you, Yusei," he said. He glanced back at the crib where the baby version of their son was still sleeping. "I know— I know you don't know us very well, but we'll always try to help you however we can."

It was weird, truthfully. He had only ever learned how to deal with baby Yusei. Dealing with his adult son was entirely out of his ballpark. But it was Yusei, and Yusei was his kid, so he'd do whatever it took to help him.

In the corner, baby Yusei started fussing. Keiko made her way over and picked him up out of the crib. "Hey sweetie, mommy's home," she whispered. Yusei — the grown-up version— turned around and stared at the baby with wide eyes.

"That's me?" he asked. Hatori put a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

"That's you. He's probably fussy right now. Your mom will take care of it. Do you want to help me set the table?"

Yusei nodded, still staring at the baby, who was making the tiny hiccuping noises that indicated he'd start crying soon. Maybe he'd sensed the heavy atmosphere. More likely he just wanted attention.

With Yusei's help, setting the table only took a fraction of the time it usually took. Yusei smiled softly at the table. He seemed content all of a sudden.

"Martha made us do this when we were angry," he said softly. Hatori wasn't sure if he was meant to overhear. "There were so many of us, so by the time we'd set the table, we would've calmed down. It's calming."

"Martha?"

Yusei's smile grew softer and fonder. "She raised us. Me and Jack and Crow and all the kids in Satellite. She's great."

So at least Yusei hadn't been left to fend all for himself out there. Hatori wished he could thank this Martha, whoever she was. "I wouldn't mind meeting her someday," he said. Yusei's smile grew wider.

"Yeah. She spoke highly of you guys."

"Did she know us?"

Yusei shook his head. "I don't think so, but she said my parents saved me and tried to keep me safe from harm. I think she'd like to meet you too."

"You spoke of your friends just now…"

"Jack and Crow. They're my best friends. We grew up together so they're kind of like my brothers."

"Are they here with you?"

"Yes, and also— It's a long story. What did Yugi-san and Judai-san tell you?"

Hatori glanced at the kitchen, where dinner was sitting ready. "Let's eat first, okay? You can tell us everything afterwards, when Yusei— When the baby's asleep."

Yusei snorted. "Yeah, okay."

Together, they finished setting the table just as Keiko returned, baby Yusei in her arms. The baby had stopped fussing and was now looking around with wide eyes. His face brightened when his eyes landed on Fermat and he reached out his arms.

"Fe!"

Fermat blinked open an eye, staring lazily at the baby. He flicked his tail twice and then curled up again, asleep almost immediately. Not just the baby was still staring at Fermat, but the grown-up version of Yusei was as well.

"You have a cat?" he asked, voice full of something Hatori couldn't quite identify. He walked over and picked up Fermat. The cat only cast him an indignant look and slumped over his shoulder. When they approached Yusei, the cat took some more interest and leaned forward to sniff at Yusei's outstretched hand.

"His name's Fermat," Hatori said. Yusei laughed softly. He carefully petted Fermat and the cat started purring.

"Come on, let's eat," Keiko said. She put Yusei back in his crib. The baby looked dissatisfied. Older Yusei looked at him, still fascinated by this younger version of himself. He waited until Keiko and Hatori had both sat down and then took the remaining seat, still looking around. Hatori suppressed a sigh. This should have been the house where Yusei had grown up, not one he'd never consciously seen before.

Yusei ate quickly, letting Keiko tell the story of how he'd shown up in her Quantum Mechanics class. Yusei ducked his head when Keiko praised him, but Hatori was just as impressed as his wife. Quantum mechanics were hard for the best of students. He'd struggled with the course himself back in his college days. For Yusei to have learned and understood the principles at nineteen, with nothing but a few textbooks to guide him? It was practically unheard of.

"It's not just me," Yusei said, blush still high on his cheeks from the praise. "I've got — I know someone, he's good with this stuff too."

"Is that one of your friends you talked about earlier?" Hatori asked. To his surprise, Yusei snorted.

"No, Jack and Crow don't have a head for it. They're far better than me at other stuff, though." He fell silent for a brief second. "Antinomy's… He's one of the people who traveled through time. We met him about a year ago, but he'd lost his memory at the time."

Something about the pauses in Yusei's explanation made Hatori suspect there was a lot more to this story than Yusei was willing to tell them. That was okay. They had time, right?

"How long are you staying?"

Yusei shrugged. "I don't know. We're just kind of getting our act together now." He pondered the question for a few seconds, idly toying with his chopsticks. "I guess it doesn't really matter. We can travel through time all we want now."

Hatori exchanged a look with Keiko. He had so many questions, but he didn't want to spoil the evening. This might be one of the few opportunities he had to actually talk to his son, and he didn't want to ruin it by talking about the future. Clearly it pained Yusei enough already.

Yusei helped clear the table and looked about ready to do the dishes by hand until they pointed out they had a dishwasher. He settled on the couch, still looking vaguely surprised at everything around him. It hurt Hatori more than he could have imagined.

"I'm going to put Yusei to bed," he announced. It was getting late and the baby didn't need to be kept up by their conversations. He picked up Yusei and paused when he noticed the Yusei on the couch looking again. Hatori smiled.

"Do you want to hold him?"

Yusei started, giving him a wide-eyed look. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea," he said. "I mean, I don't know, Antinomy never said anything about touching other versions of yourself so I think it'd be okay, but I don't know…"

"Some other time, perhaps," Keiko said. Hatori agreed. Time travel came with a whole host of paradoxes that had always been theoretical so far, but he really wasn't about to test that, particularly not with his own son. Sons.

He took Yusei upstairs and tucked him in, turning on the baby monitor as he left. For a moment, he lingered in the doorway of Yusei's room. He was glad to see Yusei all grown up, he really was. But thinking about what their son had had to go through to get here… Yusei hadn't talked about the strange tattoo on his face and he hadn't asked, but he didn't think he liked the implications of it.

He shut down the light in the hallway and made his way back downstairs, where Keiko had managed to foist a drink onto Yusei. The boy still sat straight-backed on the couch, glancing around every so often when he thought they weren't paying attention. As if they could ever not. Fermat, always sociable, had jumped on the couch next to him and Yusei was carefully petting the cat.

"Have you had pets before?" Keiko was asking when Hatori entered the room. Yusei shook his head.

"There were a lot of strays in Satellite —where I grew up— but we didn't really have enough food for them to take them in."

They both winced at that. Yusei went back to petting Fermat, oblivious. Hatori wondered what Satellite was. It had to be a part of Domino, but he didn't know of any places with that name. Another question to add to his ever-growing list.

At some point, they turned on the tv and settled on a documentary on space, which all three of them proceeded to make fun of for the next hour. It was nearing ten and they'd just ridiculed a particularly asinine argument —Yusei didn't quite know as much about astrophysics as either of them, but he knew more than enough to tear apart the pseudo-science in the documentary— when Yusei's phone rang. He glanced at the screen and his eyes widened.

"Oh hell, that late already?" he muttered, bringing the phone to his ear. "Yusei here."

The voice on the other side sounded distinctly relieved. Yusei rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm with my parents."

His voice lowered on those last words, as if it was embarrassing to say. He exchanged a few more words with his conversation partner before hanging up.

"They're wondering where I am." He grimaced. "I should probably head back."

"Do you want to stay over?"

"Maybe some other time." Yusei said, then his eyes widened and he immediately backtracked. "I mean, if that's okay? I don't want to impose and you have a baby so—"

"Yusei," Keiko cut through, "you're always welcome here, all right? If you need to go, that's okay, but I really hope to see you again."

"So do I," Hatori added.

Yusei lowered his head, but smiled. "Thanks. I'd really like that too."

 **oOoOo**

Yusei fumbled with the keys of the apartment building and needed two tries to get the door unlocked. He shoved it open with his shoulder, balancing the stack of books on his arm as he put his keys away. The elevator proved to be another struggle: he barely managed to press the '4' button with his left elbow. So many books. And his parents… He'd actually met them. They had talked for so long, and he could go back to mom's next class in two days, and… Yusei took a deep breath. He'd just wanted to see his mom. He hadn't expected her to recognize him.

It was Jack who opened the door. His eyes strayed from Yusei's disheveled appearance to the stack of books he was carrying. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." Yusei turned around, a smile tugging at his lips. "I'm okay. I'm really okay. I went back to Domino University. I met my mom and dad."

"Really? Awesome!" Crow appeared behind Jack's shoulder. Yusei walked past them and carefully placed the stack of books on the kitchen table. He was only borrowing these books, after all. From his mother. Who had recognized him, who had talked to him, who had told him she loved him.

Jack opened the fridge and grabbed three cans of soda, throwing one at Crow and Yusei each and sitting down with the third one. Yusei turned away from the books to open his can. Thankfully, it didn't overflow.

"So, what're they like?" Jack asked. Yusei took a long drink to get his thoughts in order.

"Mom's just… Amazing. I thought she was going to throw me out because I wasn't supposed to be there, but she covered for me. And then just, this class…" He wanted to explain what he'd learned, but it had been new even for him, so he settled for, "I learned so much. And then I got to visit dad and I met myself."

"You gonna go back?" Crow asked. Yusei nodded.

"I have homework."

Crow snorted. "You're serious," Jack said.

"Yeah! Okay, you know representations in angular momentum values?"

"No, Yusei, we don't know." Crow put down his can with a grin. "But seriously, you're going back to her class? Won't someone notice?"

"She said I could come back. She and dad want to meet you guys." Yusei smiled. He wanted them to meet Jack and Crow too. He glanced at the books. There was so much he wanted to do, so much he wanted to find out. He didn't even know where to begin.

"Meet us? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jack asked.

Yusei contemplated that. "They already know from Yugi-san and Judai-san. Please meet them? They're my parents, but you guys're my family and—"

"Of course we will," Crow said. Jack nodded.

"You think we wouldn't?"

Yusei smiled. The awful feeling in his stomach dissipated—Mostly. He had been able to meet his parents. Jack and Crow… Unless they got very lucky, they never would. Yusei had been found with identity papers on him, but Jack didn't even know whether his name was the one his parents had given him. Crow knew for sure it wasn't. If only he could give them that…

"Hey, stop thinking," Jack said. "We're fine."

"Yeah." Crow waved a hand at the books on the table. "You go do your homework or whatever it is. We'll go visit your parents with you."

"Just don't expect us to go to class."

Yusei laughed. "You really don't want to try?" He grabbed the top book, the one they'd used in class, and opened it on a random page. "Come on, it's just quantum physics."

"Go do your nerd thing," Jack told him. Yusei's laugh faded into a smile. He leafed through the book until he found chapter seven.

"I will." It was enough of a thanks. They'd understand. They always did, after all. And he had homework to do. He wished he could explain this to someone who would understand… And well, there was, wasn't there? The now-familiar anger settled in his gut again, but it was quickly subsumed by the happiness he'd felt all day. He could be angry again tomorrow. Today he wanted to talk about physics.

 **oOoOo**

Delta Eagle was about as good as it was going to get, but Antinomy wasn't ready to give up just yet. It was past eleven and Jack, Crow and Yusei had taken over the living room. He'd already updated Delta Eagle's board computer —again, done the same for Aki's D-Wheel, and he'd even reorganized his deck. He didn't dare touch Team 5D's D-Wheels. Maybe Aki would be up for a duel? Without their D-Wheels, Accel Synchro wouldn't work, but they could make do. It wasn't like tabletop duels were ever going to go out of style.

Mind made up, he gathered his cards and got up when the door at the top of the stairs opened and Yusei appeared. He… Actually smiled when he saw Antinomy.

"Oh, good, you're here!"

Antinomy swallowed, throat dry. "Were you looking for me?"

"Yeah." Yusei carefully came down the stairs, carrying his laptop under one arm and two or three books under the other. Antinomy got up to take them from him. "Can you look over something for me?"

Antinomy moved his deck out of the way so Yusei could set the laptop down. "Sure, but aren't Jack and Crow around?"

"It's quantum physics."

He couldn't help it; he laughed at the face Yusei made. He sat down again. Yusei opened his laptop.

"How much do you know about angular momentum in quantum mechanics?" he asked. Antinomy leaned back. Angular momentum was easy, but quantum mechanics always tended to complicate things a bit. Why was Yusei asking him about that now?

"Enough," he finally said. "I can get by."

"Good." Yusei looked at him again, still smiling. He looked almost ferociously happy. It had been so long since he'd seen Yusei look like that, let alone at him. "I had homework. Can you check if I got it right?"

"Homework?"

"Yeah." Yusei's smile softened into something more gentle, and Antinomy got the feeling he had been waiting all day to tell him about this. "I went to Domino University again. My mother gave me those books. I have homework."

He said those last words almost reverently. Antinomy leaned closer. "You met your mother? That's great!"

"And my father. I had dinner with them." Yusei's smile didn't disappear. He grabbed the top book from the stack and opened it. "Look, here. We were supposed to prepare six and seven for the next class." He pointed at the exercises. "I made them on my laptop. Can you check if I messed anything up?"

Antinomy didn't immediately look back at the laptop. Instead, he quickly leafed through the book. Yusei's mother had written it, if the cover was to be believed. He was going to have to ask Yusei if he could borrow those books. Their lifestyle hadn't exactly left him much time to go look for study material, but now that it was here…

"Antinomy?"

"Yeah! Sorry." He quickly looked for the right page again and turned to the laptop. Yusei looked at him expectantly as he read. After ten minutes, it had become clear to him that Yusei had not made any mistakes, but by then Antinomy was far too engrossed in the book to mind. He frowned at one of the longer equations. "Where'd you get your value for p?"

"It's right here, isn't it?" Yusei leaned over his arm to point at the book. "See?"

"Oh, yeah!" How had he missed that? He gave the equation a last look. "I think you're good. It all looks correct to me."

"Thanks." Yusei kept his eyes glued on the screen, not leaning away yet. "Well…"

"Yeah… " Antinomy bit the inside of his cheek. Was it always going to be like this? Maybe he should just go upstairs and see if Aki was up for that duel. "I'll just—"

"Look, I've got eight more of these books," Yusei said quickly. He took a deep breath. "Do you want to read them? There's so much in there and I haven't even figured everything out yet, but I thought you'd like it."

"I'd love to." Antinomy said. He smiled. Yusei smiled back.

"I'll be back in a minute. Stay here, okay?"

"I will." Antinomy settled back and watched Yusei leave. That had been… nice, even for how awkward it was. Not quite like before, but similar enough that he could pretend that Yusei didn't avoid him whenever he could. But Yusei had looked for him today, hadn't he? He'd come looking for him specifically. If he could have that back, the way things had been when he'd still been Bruno… Maybe it was just a pipe dream. Maybe Yusei would change his mind and not come back at all, or maybe it was just because he was so happy about meeting his parents, but Antinomy hoped that wasn't the case. He'd changed, as had Yusei, but at least this still felt almost the same.

He needn't have worried. True to his word, Yusei returned a little more than a minute later, carrying an enormous stack of books. Wow, how many had his mother given him? Antinomy hurried up the stairs and together they carried the books downstairs. Yusei's mother hadn't just given him textbooks on quantum mechanics, like the one they'd used for Yusei's homework assignment, but, from what Antinomy could see at first glance, also books on astrophysics, nanoscience and even biophysics. He'd have to borrow that last one. Paradox might get a kick out of it.

"She really went all out," Yusei said by way of explanation as they put all the books on the table. It was a little too small for so many things. Really, they'd only dragged it into the garage to have a place to put their laptops whenever a board computer needed fine-tuning. Yusei sat down and rested his elbows on the table. "Where'd you want to start?"

"Wherever you want." Really, this table was far too small. Antinomy ended up almost pressed up against Yusei just to find an empty spot. "Maybe the symmetries? We kind of started in the middle of the book."

"Sounds good!" Yusei fished the first book out from under the stack and opened it on the first page. Fudou Keiko's name was written in smaller font above the title. Yusei sighed and brushed a hand over it.

"I didn't think I'd ever meet her," he admitted. "I've seen Dad before, but no one ever really talked about my mother."

"They should've."

Yusei shot him a grateful smile. "Yeah. C'mon."

He turned the pages until he reached the first chapter. And really, even though most of it wasn't exactly new to Antinomy, it was still riveting. Yusei's mother had a very clear, concise style of explaining things. A lot like Yusei, actually. He wouldn't mind meeting her in person. They made their way through two chapters with minimal problems, lingered a bit on the third, and after chapter four, it was almost like they were back to normal. Back to how they'd been before he'd regained his memories, when they'd routinely stayed up past midnight to code, or work on their D-Wheels, or just debate whatever came to mind.

"No, see, you can skip this part." Yusei leaned on Antinomy's arm to write on the piece of paper he'd been using to take notes. "Like this. Makes it easier."

"Huh." It went against the method Z-one had taught him decades ago, but it did work better.

"I did the same thing earlier," Yusei said, ever-so-slightly abashed. "Mom explained it."

Antinomy laughed softly. "She sounds like a good teacher."

"She is." Yusei straightened up again. Antinomy frowned as the warmth of Yusei's arm against his own disappeared. But they'd reached the end of Yusei's mother's book, and it was already past midnight. Really, they should be going to bed.

"Astrophysics?" Yusei asked.

"Sure!"

The next time Antinomy glanced at the clock, it was past one and they were in the middle of a rather spirited debate on black holes and their alternatives, book lying forgotten between them.

"No, but you can't not take quantum physics into account," Yusei told him. "I know it's all moot now, but the idea wasn't bad."

"No one's disputing that, but whether it's a black hole or a gravastar, it's impossible for there not to be some sort of supermassive gravitational object at the center of the galaxy."

"Then it could just as well have been a gravastar."

"They've disproven that. We know it's a black hole. Next you'll be throwing around fuzzballs—"

"What's wrong with fuzzballs? We know that it's a black hole but the people now don't. It won't be conclusively proven for another eight years."

"Regardless," Antinomy bent low over the book, "it would be pretty awesome if you could harness that energy. Look at quasars."

Yusei nodded. "Yeah, but unless you can create a black hole with a low enough Schwarzschild radius…"

"Like a primordial black hole? That's way too dense."

"Yeah, I know… Miniature black hole? We don't want it destroying the planet." Yusei sighed. Antinomy echoed him. "Hey, we should go to Switzerland some day."

"Switzerland?" How had they arrived at Switzerland?

"I've always wanted to see the Large Hadron Collider."

"Oh." Antinomy snorted. "Yeah, me too. I actually tried once, but I didn't get in." He glanced at Delta Eagle. "We could go, if you want? Delta Eagle is operational. Any year, any place, it'll get us there."

Yusei looked very tempted, but Antinomy felt a yawn coming up and even though he tried to suppress it, he didn't quite manage. Yusei grinned and patted him on the back. "Maybe some other day. Can't have you falling asleep there."

Antinomy gave him an abashed smile. "Hold me to that, okay?"

"Don't think that I won't. But you should sleep." Yusei studied him carefully. Antinomy resisted the urge to fidget. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"I'm fine, don't worry."

But Yusei looked away and sighed. "That's not— Antinomy, please."

"I'm sorry." He couldn't look at Yusei. "I should've told you about Satellite and Momentum. I didn't want to hurt you, but you were right and it made everything worse. We messed up and Satellite became victim of it. We shouldn't have kept you out."

"Yeah," said Yusei, but he didn't sound angry, just sad. "I guess it was stupid, thinking they'd get along."

"It was nice," Antinomy said softly. "It would've been so nice."

Yusei nodded, eyes shadowed. Antinomy hesitantly put an arm around him and almost pulled back when Yusei froze. Maybe he shouldn't have…? But Yusei took a breath and visibly relaxed, leaning into him.

"Are we okay?" Antinomy asked.

Yusei smiled sadly. "We'll get there. I promised I'd helped you guys. That's why I wanted to go back to Domino University, to learn more. Maybe it'll help." He turned his head and met Antinomy's eyes. "You can come along if you want."

His eyes widened. Yusei had thought of him, even before tonight? And he could go to the class of one of the most brilliant physicists in recent history, with Yusei? That was… "Thanks," he said, and he couldn't quite keep the tremor out of his voice. "I'd love to."

* * *

 _Okay so, okay, I've been wanting to post this chapter for literal years and I am so glad I finally got to. I'd decided a long time ago that Keiko was going to feature in this story and now I'm finally there and I'm just — really hyped about this. I really love Keiko so much._

 _Also you write a scene about the hypotheticals of black holes years ago and then they confirm that black holes actually exist and you have to go around rewriting the thing. Science waits for no story._

 _ **Next chapter:** Is it really change if the outcome remains the same?_


End file.
